It's Cool, We're Just Friends
by Black Mary Janes
Summary: Sarah Bolton is back in Albuquerque and trying to pick up where she left off. When her first day goes wrong, she sees that East High grew up, including Ryan. But there's always Sharpay to make   life a living hell. mostly RyanxOC, with TxG CxT SxZ JxK
1. You've Got New Friends

**AN: Okay, so this is the start of new fic AN. So this is my first ever HSM fic, and I only got into the movies a month-ish ago. But it's kinda like an infection, and the more I thought about the movies and the sotry and everything the more I HAD to write something. I realize that this is pretty bad, unrealistic, and that the OC is VERY Mary-Sue. I've been trying to rough her up, but then she just comes across as a troubled teen, which is just a nother version of Mary Sue. So please just bear with her, hopefully she'll get a little more tolerable. **

** Song in this chapter is called "You've Got A Friend" originally by James Taylor, though I was listening to the McFly version. Both are on youtube if you need to hear them for whatever reason. **

** Disclaimer: I don't own Disney. If I did, this wouldn't be a fanfic, this would be the plot of the third movie. I also don't own the song. I don't know who does, but it's not me.  
**

* * *

Sarah Bolton sat in the back of a gold SUV, watching houses pass by, keeping her eyes peeled for a familiar one. She sighed, pushed her brown hair out of her eyes and yelled to the front "Are we there yet??"

"No, princess." Her father answered sarcastically. "You see, when we get there, I will turn off the car."

"Very funny." Sarah responded. "You should have your own show."

"You know, your uncle and I thought about that once." Her father lapsed into a memory that should have been forgotten long ago. "We were going for a sort of Saturday Night Live feel, but smaller."

"Yes, well, it's very good that someone killed that dream." His wife said next to him. He gave her a small glare before turning into the driveway of a familiar house.

"We're here we're here we're here!!!!" Sarah was bouncing up and down in her seat with excitement. She tore off her seatbelt and had the door open before the engine had been turned off. She jumped out of the car and barely had a moment to take in the sight of the house before she was being bear hugged by a pair of very strong arms.

"You're here you're here you're here!!!" A male voice said somewhere in the hug, and she smiled.

"Dude, what was that-" Sarah heard another voice, this one closer to the house. It sounded vaguely familiar, but it had been nearly six year since she heard it.

"Is that Chad?" She asked the body connected to the arms currently reducing her to a size smaller than normal.

"Yup." Came the reply. "But ignore him for a minute. Let me see you." The arms released her and she took a step back. In front of her was a teenage boy with her same hair and eye color, but a good six inches taller than her. She smiled at the boy who was like a brother to her, even if they were only cousins. "The same as ever." Troy said with a laugh after a moments inspection.

"Sarah!" Chad came running from the house, basketball in hand. "Is that really you?" She nodded. "Wow. You're…" He searched for an accurate word. "Small." He finally decided.

"She's not that little." Troy said. "She's taller than Kelsi."

"Who isn't?" Chad asked. He gave Troy the basketball and held out his. "Let's see if she can remember back six years." Sarah smirked, and shook his hand. After two shakes she slid her hand down his palm, and the two hooked their fingers together.Clenching the hands into a fist, the two raised their arms and spun underneath them, then returned to a normal handshake and shook twice. It was a simple handshake but they had made it up in the second grade. "She's still got game." Chad nodded approvingly.

"That's good to know." Sarah said, raising an eyebrow. "Now will you please greet me properly?" The boys laughed and Chad gave her a fierce hug. He let her go and said "Come on in, you have to meet the girls."

"Girls?" Sarah asked, walking into the house. "As in more than one?"

"Yeah," Troy said. "Chad brought Taylor over."

"Taylor McKessie?" Sarah asked. Chad nodded, an odd sort of dreamy look on his face. "She was so cool! Way too smart, but cool."

"Sarah?" Taylor's voice preceded her as she entered the Bolton kitchen.

"Speak of the devil." Sarah said. She gave her a hug before noticing the girl behind Taylor. She pulled away and gave the girl a quick inspection. "You must be Gabriella." She nodded, looking a little nervous. Sarah laughed. "It's okay, I'm not gonna bite." She gave Gabriella a hug, and she relaxed a bit. When they pulled away, she said "I'm Sarah Bolton."

"Troy's told me all about you." Gabriella said. "It's so great to meet you. I really hope you like East High."

"I'm sure I will." She said. She smiled, but Troy and Chad could tell that it wasn't genuine. Her blue eyes were a bit darker all of a sudden, like the sky as a sudden storm rolled in. There was a slightly awkward moment that Taylor finally broke.

"So do you know what kind of clubs you're going to do at East?" She asked, taking Sarah's arm and leading her back to the rec room.

"Oh, I'm not really sure." She said. "I'm not allowed to try out for the dance team, seeing as that's why I'm here in the first place."

"What happened?" Gabriella asked.

"Troy didn't tell you?" She asked. The girls and Chad shook their heads. "Well, it's a long story. But basically I was on the dance team back at Hartford, but we got accused of cheating at our state competition. Well, the rest of the girls didn't take that too kindly, and about half of them started threatening the team accusing us. Well, they all got shouting, and it was at the point where no one could tell who was saying what. Then one of the girls got pushed, and that was it. Our team was DQd and the entire team was suspended from school for a month. The team mothers fought, but the school board wouldn't change its decision. The seniors on the team ended up missing so much school because of the suspension that they weren't allowed to march at graduation."

"Are you serious?" Chad asked, appalled. Sarah nodded glumly.

"That's horrible." Gabriella said.

"That's why my parents decided to move back to Albuquerque." She said. "They missed the climate more, and they wanted me to get away from Hartford." She shrugged. "I'm really glad to be back with Troy, though." She gave him a quick hug. "I've missed him so much." She sighed. "Especially during that whole fiasco last year. I felt really alone, like I was going through it alone. I wanted to talk to you so much, but it didn't feel right, getting you all worked up about it like Mom and Dad were."

"Hey." Troy pulled away, looking her in the eyes. "Don't ever think you can't talk to me. We're blood. We're together for life. You can always tell me anything." He sighed, then opened his mouth and sang.

"When you're down and troubled  
And you need a helping hand  
And nothing, nothing is going right  
Close your eyes and think of me  
And soon I will be there  
To brighten up even your darkest night"

Chad, Taylor, and Gabriella joined him for the chorus, their voice a sweet harmony that swept the trouble of the past under a rug.

"You just call out my name  
And you know wherever I am  
I'll come running to see you again  
Winter, spring, summer or fall  
All you have to do is call  
And I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah.  
You've got a friend"

Chad moved closer to Sarah, taking her hand as he sang the next verse.

"If the sky above you  
Should turn dark and full of clouds  
And that old north wind should begin to blow  
Keep your head together  
And call my name out loud, yeah  
Soon I'll be knocking upon your door"

"You just call out my name  
And you know wherever I am  
I'll come running, oh yes I will  
To see you again  
Winter, spring, summer or fall  
All you have to do is call  
And I'll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah."

Gabriella and Taylor sang the next verse, each wrapping an arm around Sarah's shoulders.

"Ain't it good to know that you've got a friend  
When people can be so cold  
They'll hurt you, and desert you  
And take your soul if you let them  
Oh yeah, but don't you let them"

"You just call out my name  
And you know wherever I am  
I'll come running to see you again  
Winter, spring, summer or fall  
All you have to do is call  
And I'll be there, yes I will.

You've got a friend"

The song ended there, Sarah smiling at her new and old friends. "Thanks guys." She said softly.

"Kids, dinner!" Troy's mother called into the room. The kids stampeded out of the room as only teenagers can.


	2. Off To A Great Start

New Chapter!! Makes me excited. I wrote this on the first day of school, so I kinda knew what i was talking about. I need to thank IncandescentAngel and LucasGrabeelIsHott for reviewing, and of, course, ask all of you to!! It makes me happy!! So...that's it. Here ya go!!

There is no song in this one. So no need for a disclaimer.

* * *

Troy parked his truck in the senior lot and looked over at Sarah. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked. "You look a little green."

"It's only because I was riding with you." She said, looking out the window blankly. "I'm fine."

"It is your first day and all." Troy said. "Just thought you might be a little…"

"Nervous? Me? Oh no." She said, shaking her head vigorously, her complexion and expression telling him otherwise. "I've never been nervous before in my life."

"Sarah, just relax." He said. "They're teenagers, not piranhas."

"Same thing." She mumbled.

"Relax." Troy repeated. "Either me or Chad is in most of your classes. You won't be alone. Don't worry."

"Okay." She took a deep breath, which seemed to help a little. "Let's go before I lose my nerve." The two exited the car and walked together into the building. Troy smiled at the sight of his school, his second home. Sarah donned a brave smile, though she secretly wished she was anywhere but East High.

After a short trip to their lockers, the two Boltons walked to homeroom, where Troy promised a bunch of familiar faces would greet them. Halfway there, Sarah was stopped by Principal Matsui.

"Miss Bolton." Sarah stopped at the sound of her name. "I need to see for a quick moment. I think there is a mistake on your transcript, and I want to check with you."

"Certainly." She said. It took every ounce of courage she had to turn to Troy and say "You go ahead, I'll find it no problem."

"You sure?" He asked. She nodded. "Okay." He turned and left, running to get there before the bell.

Troy waited impatiently for ten whole minutes, but Sarah never came in. Sighing, he left the room for first period anatomy, a class he knew she didn't have with him.

Sarah meanwhile was busy trying to explain why she was suspended. She finally suggested that her principal call her mother and ask her about it, and got a pass to her first period class, Shakespeare and His Work. She was excited for the class, not because of a deep and unabashed love of Shakespeare and His Work, but because it was worth double credits, two in English and two in Fine Arts. Walking to Ms. Darbus's room, she felt the weight of her reputation. Having that suspension on her record was already causing trouble, and the student body didn't know about it yet. She sighed, resigning herself to the fact that it was there, and knocked on the door in front of her.

There was a sudden silence in the classroom. Darbus had been performing her introductory monologue about how important Shakespeare and His Works were to modern literature when she was interrupted. Everyone was taken by surprise. No one had dared interrupt Darbus since…well, ever. She seemed so taken aback that at first she simply stared at the door. When the knock came again, she motioned to the boy sitting closest to the door.

"Mr. Evans, will you please allow that person in?" She said. Ryan stood up and walked to the door, curious to see who dared interrupt Darbus. He pulled the door open and stared.

It wasn't, as he had suspected, a teacher looking for a lost student. It was girl, one who looked vaguely familiar, but Ryan was sure he had never seen. Her dark hair fell to her shoulders, and when she looked up from the schedule she had been examining, it fell away in a shiny curtain, revealing piercing blue eyes. She smiled at him, her full lips curving up on one side more than the other.

"Is this Ms. Darbus's Shakespeare and His Work class?" She asked.

"Yes." Ryan said. "Are you coming in late?"

"Yeah." She looked back down at her schedule. She pulled out a pink hall pass and showed it to him. "I was just meeting with Mr. Matsui about my transcript."

"You're still going to get a detention." Ryan said, stepping aside and letting her in. She shot him a curious look before walking into the class room. He closed the door behind her, following her until he reached his seat, then sitting. She continued, right up to the front of the classroom where Darbus was glaring at her.

"Good morning." The girl said. "I'm Sarah Bolton. I was in a meeting with Mr. Matsui." She handed over the late pass, which Darbus scrutinized before throwing it on her desk.

"I will have you know, Miss Bolton, that tardiness is not accepted here at East High, especially in my classroom. I will see you after school for a 15 minute detention."

Sarah just looked at her in shock. It was her first day and she had a pass and she still got detention? That was just ridiculous. She opened her mouth to argue, but the boy who answered the door caught her eyes and shook his head vigorously. She hesitated for a moment, then turned and sat down behind him without a word. Although he wasn't looking at her, Ryan could tell that she was angry. There was a defiant thud as he messenger bag hit the floor. Ryan smiled and shook his head to himself. It looked like the pretty Bolton girl had a few things to learn.

Darbus continued her lecture as though she hadn't been interrupted. The class promptly put on their best listening faces while really performing mild acts of rebellion. Ryan was just thinking about passing the new girl a note when he noticed a folded square of paper on the corner of his desk. Curious, he opened it to find very neat handwriting using some not-so-neat words.

_Who pissed in her Cheerios this morning?_

Smiling, Ryan wrote back _I don't know, but they've been doing it for some time. She's always like this. _He threw the note gently behind him, and heard it land squarely on the desk. A moment later, he noticed that the note was back, magically appearing in the same corner as before.

_Aww, and I thought I was getting special treatment for being the new girl. _

Ryan scribbled back _Nope. Sorry. And how are you getting it on my desk? I don't even know you're moved. _

He watched the corner of his desk this time, waiting for her to place it there. But she never did. Finally he heard her cough quietly, and he saw that it was now on the opposite corner. Pouting slightly, he opened it.

_In addition to my dance classes and homework, I use my spare time to attend ninja lessons. _

He stifled a laugh, and wrote back _Ahh, I see. I should have expected no less from a Bolton. So how are you related to Troy?_

_He's my cousin._ She replied. _I'm Sarah. And you are…?_

Suddenly it all clicked. He remembered her from way back before middle school. She was the skinny little tomboy always running around with Troy and Chad on the playground. She had once shared crayons with him in the second grade, and had gotten angry when he kept stealing the pink. _She wasn't pretty back then. _He thought. Putting pen to paper, he wrote. _Ryan Evans. I remember you from elementary school. _

Sarah tried not to laugh. Of course it was Ryan. Even back then, he was the only boy who would consider wearing anything that wasn't a primary color. Looking at him now, it all fit, even the black and white newsboy cap.

_You never did return the pink crayon._ She wrote. _I expect to be paid in full for that, plus interest. So where's your sister? I don't see Princess Shimmer and Shine anywhere. _

He smiled. So she did remember him. And Sharpay. Even when they were kids, Sharpay went for all things glittery. _She's not worried so much about her credits. I think she has a study hall first period, which she probably isn't at. And how much is a single crayon, exactly? And what would the interest rate be for a crayon loan of six years?_

Sarah looked at the note, curious. It seemed that Ryan and Sharpay had grown apart in the years she was gone. There was a time when the Evans twins were never apart, nearly attached at the hip. It seemed odd, the way Ryan mentioned his sister. Casual, almost. She was about to write back, but the bell rang. The class stood up as one and began filing out of the room. Only Ryan and Sarah lagged behind, chatting.

"So where did you go?" He asked. "It was weird. We were all going to middle school that year, and we got there and we were missing a girl. It was like you disappeared."

"My mom got a job in Hartford, so we had to move." She said, finding her schedule. "It was so bad at first. I mean, I was already afraid to start middle school here, but in a new state? That felt like it was impossible."

"Well, you obviously made it through." He said as they left the room. "What's brought you back?" She hesitated. Ryan raised an eyebrow. It seemed she was trying to think of a lie.

"Personal reasons." She finally said, lowering her gaze.

"Okay." He said, shrugging. "It's fine if you don't tell me."

"Thanks." She said. She was too busy looking at the floor to notice that a mammoth of a boy was right in front of her. She walked right into, bouncing off of him like a fly on a windshield. The guy turned, looking angry. He blinked down at the two people next to him. Ryan also looked at himself and Sarah, and a few quick calculations told him that he was going to be the one blamed for it. From the look of things, this guy was one of the football tackles, never a smart species to begin with. Sarah was pretty, a girl, and new, three things that worked in her favor with everyone in the school. It only made sense that Ryan, the weird drama kid who matched a little too well, was going to be blamed for it.

Sure enough, a deep rumble of a voice asked, "What was that for, fag?"

"Hey!" Came a sharp voice. Ryan looked around, wondering who had spoken, and was shocked to see Sarah glaring up at the tackle. "Watch your language, bucko."

"Huh?" The tackle looked down at her confused. "I wasn't talking to you, baby."

"I don't care." She said. She took a step forward, her hand clenching and unclenching at her sides. "Don't use vulgar language like that towards a fellow student and don't call me baby." The tackle just stared at her. No one had ever spoken to him like that, except perhaps his coach. No one else had really dared to once he became bigger than them. Especially someone so little and cute. It was kind of scary. _What if she's really a superhero? _He wondered. _What's if she's got laser beams and can melt me or something?_

"Yes Coach. I mean, ma'am." He said hurriedly, then left, heading for his next class before the small girl became any scarier.

Ryan stared at her in awe. She had just stood to someone at least three times her size, for _him_. No one had done that before. Well, Sharpay had, in her own way. But that was different. Sharpay had used manipulation and stealth and her planning skills. Sarah had just…done it. She didn't even think twice.

"You know, you didn't have to do that." He said as the continued down the hall.

"Why not?" She asked.

"It's just that…well, no one does that." He shrugged.

"No one calls you a fag, or no one tells people to stop?" She asked.

"No one tells anyone to stop." He said. "People call me a fag all the time. It's kind of a nickname at this point." He shrugged. He had gotten used to the name, and no longer really thought of it. He knew he liked girls, and everyone he cared about knew he liked girls, so it wasn't a big deal what the hot-shot jocks thought of him.

"That's not right." She said. Her blue eyes were cold as ice as she spoke. "It's an offensive term that stereotypes one group of people and brings them down. Do you even know where that word comes from?" She asked. Ryan shook his head. "It comes from the old English term 'faggot', which was the bundle of sticks set a gay person's feet when they were being burned at the stake for being who they were. It's a disgusting word that I will not tolerate anyone saying in my presence, much less to a friend of mine."

Ryan simply blinked at her. There was no way she was related Troy. Troy was a nice guy and all, but he never spoke so eloquently. Or impassioned, unless it was about basketball. He threw the term around, though he never used it on Ryan himself. He rarely stood up for the little guy in front of the big guy. _That could be because he is kinda the big guy. _Ryan thought. But that wasn't the point.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked, and Ryan snapped out of his internal comparison. He looked at her for a moment, thinking of what to say.

"I'm fine." He said. "We're friends?"

Surprisingly, Sarah blushed. Again, Ryan was surprised. The girl hardly bats an eye in front of man-mountain, but he could make her blush and look down at her feet? She was an odd girl.

"Well, yeah." She said. She cleared her throat, regaining her composure. "Unless Sharpay wouldn't like it…"

"I'm not my sister's poodle anymore." He said. She smiled, and together they entered the science room.


	3. It's You and Me, and ALL of the People

**I got a much better response this time around!! Thank you to all those that reviewed!! You are listed below, because I love you. The audition song in this chapter is "You and Me" by Lifehouse, and it's their song, not mine. Also, HSM is not mine. That would be Disney's. Like you all didn't know. **

**Reviewers: IncandescentAngel, dancerlittle, Final Fairy, qtim18, and BaMBaM13**

* * *

"You got detention on the FIRST DAY??" Chad yelled at lunch. The cafeteria went silent, all looking at the table containing Chad, Troy, Taylor, Gabriella, Sarah, Ryan, Jason, and Kelsi. Sarah sank lower into her seat, blushing deeply. 

"Nice going." Troy said, hitting Chad.

"Ow." He said, looking around. "Okay, get back to work, kids, show's over." He yelled through the caf. The kids turned back to their meals and conversations.

"Sorry." Chad said to Sarah. "but even I haven't managed that, and I've been in Darbus's homeroom for three years."

"I just don't get it." Sarah said. "I had a pass!!"

"She's nuts." Chad shrugged. "Don't worry, I'm sure there will be tons of kids there with you after school. She puts everyone in detention."

"It's still not cool." She said, picking at her lunch. "I mean, I promised to my parent's and Uncle Jack that this year was going to be different. No more trouble. And I'm already in detention."

"Don't worry about Dad." Troy said. "He thinks Darbus is out to get him, so he'll just see this as an attack on the Bolton family. He'll assume you were just an innocent victim. Which you totally were." He added as Gabriella gave him a look that clearly said he wasn't helping.

"I know you won't be alone." Ryan said. "You'll have at least half of the drama club there. We're meeting with Darbus to discuss this year's productions. She'll probably have you there with us, photocopying scripts or something."

"You drama freaks are already planning?" Chad asked incredulously. Ryan nodded. "Wow. That's dedication."

"At least we wait until school starts." Ryan said a little coldly. "You athletes sign up for fall sports before school even lets out in the spring." Chad rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. While they were now friends, there would always be a little bit of an argument between them.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. The crew began cleaning up the table and heading to class. Troy caught Sarah's hand and said "I'll wait for you. Come find me in the gym when you're done." She nodded and left with Chad and Ryan for Physics.

At two on the dot the bell rang for the last time, and Sarah trudged towards Darbus's room, each step making the knot in her stomach a little tighter. She entered the room silently, not wanting to interrupt again, but the room was empty. She was sure she had been told to report there first, so she stayed and waited. Soon enough Darbus walked in, her wine red shawl slipping slightly.

"Miss Bolton. If you will come with me, you will be serving detention in the auditorium." Sarah nodded and followed her through a maze of hallways and finally to a quiet, dimly lit stage facing thousands of red velvet chairs. Sarah looked around with a small smile. She never claimed to be an actor, but she was a dancer, and she knew what it was like to dance in front of a full auditorium like this. There was no words to describe the rush of adrenaline, the way the world seemed silent except for your music and the sound of your feet on the ground. She was snapped out of her daydream by a crash as a folder of papers was dropped to the ground in front of her.

"These are audition pieces that will need to be assembled." Darbus handed Sarah a stapler. "Three pages to a packet. You'll find it all in the folder."

"Yes ma'am." Sarah said, sitting down on the stage. She flipped open the folders and found a sample and about fifty of each page. She sighed and set to work as the drama club officers entered.

The first page was a script, a conversation between a man and a woman. It seemed as though they were a married couple that kept bickering and making up. Sarah had the first few lines memorized in a minute. The second page and third page was part of a song. She studied the music and tried to hum the tune as she worked, but it seemed to change on every page she read. She was too busy humming the song to realize that the room had gone silent. Suddenly, she looked up and saw that it was empty save for three people. One was Darbus, watching her intently but not with suspicion or anger. Next to her was Ryan, his cap throwing his eyes into shadow, making them unreadable. His arms were crossed and he was facing the stage. On Darbus's other side was a blond girl in head to toe blue, her eyes narrowed and watching Sarah.

"Umm, hi." She said.

"Miss Bolton." Darbus said, and Sarah was sure she was about to get into way more trouble. "Sing."

"Sing?" Sarah asked, amazed.

"Yes." She said. "Sing that song."

"Umm…okay." She said. She cleared her throat and looked down at the sheet music, locking in the tune. She opened her mouth and in a clear, crisp voice sang.

"All of the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right  
I'm tripping on words  
You've got my head spinning  
I don't know where to go from here"

Ryan and Sharpay exchanged a look. Her voice was pretty. Untrained, but pretty. She had a natural feel for words and she connected with her audience. Sharpay saw her as another Gabriella, another new girl to move in on her leading roles. Ryan saw something else. He saw the talent and the eagerness in her.

"Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do  
Nothing to prove  
And it's you and me and all of the people  
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you"

She finished the song, looking up at the three people in front of her. Darbus seemed impressed, Sharpay seemed to be doing some quick thinking, and Ryan was still unreadable.

"Auditions for the fall musical are next Friday. I expect to see you there, Miss Bolton. Preferable with a partner for the lead auditions." Darbus said, then turned and left. Sarah just stared at her. Her thoughts was racing, and the only one she could pin down was _What am I going to do with the papers?_ She kneeled down and began picking up the pages, unsure of where she had left off and if she should finish.

"Who is she?" Sharpay asked furiously. "Did Darbus say Bolton? Oh please don't let there be another one. I don't want to have to fight for my lead again this year."

"Sharpay, do me a favor." Ryan said. "Shut it."

"Ryan!" She shrieked, but he wasn't listening. He raced down towards the stage, grinning.

"I didn't know you could sing!" Ryan said.

"I didn't either." She said, smiling nervously. "I thought she was going to yell at me, not audition me!"

"She was really impressed." Ryan said. "She wouldn't have told you to audition if she wasn't. She's even thinking of you as a lead!"

"Which you won't get unless you find someone to audition with." Sharpay said, joining them on stage. "Sharpay Evans." She said, extending a hand. "I've had the lead in seventeen school musicals."

"Sarah Bolton." The other girl smiled. "I remember you. Weren't you the one that pushed that girl off the slide on audition day in the third grade?"

Sharpay's smile just grew. "Yes, I was." She said. "So you must be Troy's cousin. I've heard about you. I thought he said you were a dancer."

"I am." Sarah shrugged. "I guess I can sing too. Almost makes me ready for a musical." Not many people would dare say that to Sharpay. Sarah wasn't sure she should have, but it was done.

"So are you and Troy going to audition together?" Sharpay asked.

"Oh, Troy doesn't want to audition this year." Sarah said. "He's thinking of running track instead."

"What a perfect waste of his talent." Sharpay said. "You should audition together. I think it would be adorable, the two of you onstage together." Ryan gave his sister a quizzical look. Sharpay was being nice. She must be planning something. "Although I should warn you, the direction of the musical is taken very seriously. Some may even say it's harsh. But we all just want the musical to be a success, don't we?" Sarah wasn't sure if she should answer, so just nodded slightly. Sharpay gave her a moments more inspection, then said "Well, it was nice to meet you, but Ryan and I must be going."

"I should go find Troy." Sarah said. "I told him I would meet him in the gym at two thirty, and it's nearly three."

"We don't want to worry him, do we?" Sharpay said, her smile still frozen in place. "Come on, Ryan."

"I'll meet you at the car." Ryan said. Sharpay gave him a pointed look but said nothing and left.

"Come on." Ryan said, motioning towards the door.

"What are you doing?" Sarah asked, very confused.

"Walking you to the gym." Ryan said. "What does it look like, silly?"

"You don't have to do that." Sarah said quickly. "I mean, it's out of your way and everything."

"I don't mind." He said with a simple shrug. She smiled to herself and walked out the door he was holding open for her. The chatted amiably, the smiles never leaving their lips. Ryan held open the gym door, the pounds of basketballs meeting the chiming of their laughter. The pounding stopped, but the laughter didn't.

Chad and Troy looked up at each other, wondering who had just walked in. The laughter seemed vaguely familiar, but with both people out of sight, it was hard to tell.

"Hello?" Troy called.

"There you are!" Sarah appeared from around the bleachers, Ryan following. "I was just saying how complicated this weird hallway thing was. I mean, why can't it just open up into the gym?"

"Complicated?" Chad asked, disbelief as thick as a mask on his face. True, there was a bit of a hallway from the gym door to the actually hardwood, but it was only about three yards. You could be blind and still not get lost.

"Hey guys." Ryan said.

"Hey." Troy's eyes were suddenly narrowed with suspicion. "Sarah, it's nearly three. What happened?"

"Oh, well, I was putting these little audition packets together and I was humming, and I don't know why but Darbus was just like "SING LITTLE CHILD" so I did, and she told me to come back for a real audition on Friday." Sarah said excitedly, the accompanying hand motions wild. "I thought I was going to get another detention or something, but no! She really want me to audition. I even think I made Sharpay nervous. Or she made me nervous. Either way, someone was nervous, so that's got to be good."

"Breathe." Troy said as she finally seemed to run out of things to say. "You're auditioning for the musical." Sarah nodded. "With who?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Sharpay suggested you, but I knew that you wouldn't want to sing with anyone except Gabriella, so I just told her you thinking about track. I don't need a lead, I can audition on my own."

"No you can't." Chad said. "Don't you see it? Sharpay challenged you. You've got to audition now and beat her. Beat her like the little worm she is!"

"Chill, cowboy." Sarah said, her eyes wide with alarm. "Sorry." She said with a guilty glance at Ryan.

"Don't worry about it." He said with a shrug.

"Chad, it's not a challenge." Troy said. "She's just auditioning. She may not even get a part."

"I don't think so." Chad said, shaking his head. "Darbus is pretty fond of the Bolton clan now."

"Well, she's certainly not fond of me." Sarah said with a sigh.

"Well, we gotta go." Troy said, walking towards the bleachers and picking up his backpack.

"Yeah, me too." Chad said. "Dude, you're pocket is buzzing."

"Yeah, I know." Ryan said. "It's Sharpay wondering where I am."

"We'll see you tomorrow." Troy said to Ryan.

"See you later guys." Ryan said, waving to the boys. In a casual move to him that shocked Sarah, he took her hand in his and kissed the top of it lightly. "Good night." He said, smiling. He left out the door closer to the parking lot, leaving Sarah rooted to the spot.

Chad and Troy were already at the door when they realized Sarah wasn't with them. "What are you waiting for?" Chad called back.

"Huh?" She was startled back to reality, then ran towards the boys. "Nothing. Come on, Race you!"

"You're not gonna win!" Chad yelled. Troy just shook his head. They were his best friends, and six years apart hadn't changed them in the slightest.


	4. There She Goes Again

**Sorry for the delay with this chapter. I was so hung up on finish chapter five (which was being tricky) I forgot to load this one!! I had finished six by the time I realized!! SO I am very sorry, and as usual, need to thank all you readers for being patient. I gotta thank my reviewers as well. IncandescentAngel, dancerlittle, and GoodnightxGoodbye, you guys rock!!**

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Troy, Gabriella, Chad, Taylor, Jason, Kelsi, Zeke and Sarah were greeted the next morning by a splashy bulletin board announcing audition for the fall musical. Sarah stopped and read it, the yellow lettering spelling out the date and time of the auditions. 

"So you still interested?" Chad asked.

"Yeah." Sarah said. "But I didn't know it was student directed. That's a pretty cool idea."

"WHAT!?!?!?!" The entire group turned sharply and backtracked to the bulletin board. Sure enough, the title announced the auditions for East High's student directed fall musical.

"The musical is never directed by anyone other than Darbus." Troy said, scanning the announcement for a name.

"But it says it's been a tradition since MMVII" Jason said, pointing out the smaller lettering at the bottom.

"That's Roman Numerals for 2007." Taylor explained.

"Oh." Jason said, smiling sheepishly.

"'Direction provided by the drama club co-presidents.'" Gabriella read. "But that's Ryan and Sharpay."

"It's not 'presidents'." Kelsi said, leaning in closer. "it's 'president'."

"Only one of them?" Troy shook his head.

"It's got to be Sharpay." Sarah said. There was murmur of agreement.

"Well, we'll find out." Chad said as the warning bell rang. They all headed for homeroom.

Sarah slid into her seat behind Ryan, not even looking at him. _He must have been in on the whole thing. _Sarah thought viciously. _He always was her lap dog. _She didn't understand why this seemed to hurt her so much.

Ryan looked behind him, but Sarah was ignoring him. He turned back around, frowning. Why was she so mad? She had walked in without word, and still hadn't acknowledged him, nearly halfway through their Shakespeare class. He couldn't understand why she was upset. She had been sending Sharpay evil looks all through homeroom and was now ignoring the Evans brother with a determination that rivaled Coach Bolton's. Try as he might, Ryan could not think of why. He was sure that he had left things on a pleasant note with Sarah, even if Sharpay hadn't. Finally, he cracked, and scribbled down a note, tossing it onto the desk behind him.

He waited, and soon enough it appeared on his desk again. Quickly unfolding it, he saw the now familiar handwriting.

_I'm mad because your sister is suddenly directing the musical, and you didn't have the decency to tell me. _

Ryan blinked couple of times, making sure he was reading it correctly. Yes, Sharpay was directing the musical with Darbus, but he hadn't known that until this morning. No one had. Darbus had asked just as Ryan and Sharpay got to school. Was that what was making Sarah so mad? Ryan scribbled down on explanation.

_We didn't know until this morning. Darbus asked us as soon as we got to school. I would have told you, but I didn't see you. _

Sarah read the note, feeling like an idiot. Of course it was wrong to blame Ryan for this. Now that he had explained it, it made sense. Even if it had been planned, when could he have told her? Silently kicking her own ass, she wrote down an apology.

_Oh wow. Now I really feel like an idiot now. I'm so sorry. I should have realized the whole time thing at the very least. I guess I have been listening to Chad too much. I actually thought you two had planned this. I'm so sorry. I'm such an idiot._

Ryan read her note, a sense of relief passing through him. It was just a mistake and she didn't hate him.

_You're not an idiot. It was a natural conclusion to jump to, given the past reputation of the Evans twins. But we're not like that anymore. We both went through a change this summer. It's hard to explain. But we're both making a real effort this year. Especially as it is our last._

The bell rang as Sarah put her pencil down to answer. The students all jumped up to leave. Sarah also jumped up, but didn't leave. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Ryan's torso in a hug. "I'm really sorry." She mumbled into his shoulder.

"It's okay," He said. "Come on, we're going to be late."

That day lunch was one long explanation as both Sharpay and Ryan explained what was happening.

"So you're not going just directing because you want to punish us all for stealing your lead?" Troy asked.

"Not at all." Sharpay said. "Although I'm not going to go easy on your guys because you are my classmates. This musical means a lot to me. So I'm going to do whatever it takes to make it perfect. And especially after hearing Sarah sing yesterday, I realized that me being a diva and fighting for a lead may not be what's best for the musical. Talent seems to run in the Bolton family." She grudgingly admitted. Sarah nodded a thank you. "So the audition sheet is up. I hope to see some familiar names on it." She shot a look Troy and Gabriella. "We'll probably get the usual band of losers, but we should be able to piece together a stellar cast. Thanks Zeke." She said, accepting yet another cookie from him.

"We should audition, Troy." Gabriella said. "I mean, we had so much fun last year."

"Yeah…" Troy said, thinking.

"What about you, Sarah?" Chad asked. "Figured it out yet?"

"I'll just audition alone for a supporting role." She said with a smile. "I've never done a musical before, so I don't want to jump into something so quickly."

"But you're so talented!" Sharpay said. "You guys haven't heard her sing, but she really is amazing." Sharpay stopped, and Ryan got a familiar feeling of dread. The look on Sharpay's face told him that she had an idea. It would only be a matter of time before she blurted it out. "Why don't you and Ryan audition together!!"

"What?" Ryan said. Even he could not believe what she said.

"No, seriously." Sharpay said. "I mean, Ryan doesn't have anyone to audition with now that I'm directing. Sarah's got the talent to be my replacement. It would work out perfectly. And they're skin tone compatible." She finished, as if that settled the matter.

The table was silent. Everyone was thinking about Sharpay's proposal, running it through their heads. Sarah had no qualms about singing with Ryan. In fact, it sounded kind of fun. Ryan was looking at it form a more professional point of view. He had heard that she was a dancer, but had never seen her dance. Her voice was good but needed to be worked on for control. It would take several hours together to perfect those things, something Ryan had no problem with.

"You know, that's a good idea." Troy said. Everyone else murmured their agreement.

"I'll sign you two up right now!!" Gabriella jumped up with a marker. "I was just going to go add me and Troy anyway."

"Wait, Gab…" Sarah trailed off as Gabriella ran out of the caf. She sighed.

"Hey, cheer up partner." Ryan said. "It could be worse. I could be Cyndra."

That night, as soon as they got home, Ryan followed Sharpay up to her bedroom, and endless stream of questions issuing from his mouth.

"What exactly possessed you to decide that Sarah and I should audition together? Other than the fact that you didn't even ask if either of us wanted to audition with the other, you let the others decide it for us!! Really, would it have been so hard to mention it to me beforehand? Even a little bit of warning would have been nice. But no, you just HAD to go and say it, and now we're signed up. You do realize that she gave me her phone number, right, that means I have to call her. Shar, can you think of the last time I called a girl that wasn't you or Mom?? Yeah, me neither, that's because I HAVEN'T. I was getting quite used to being the late bloomer, Shar, but no, now I'm having this girl pushed on to me. We have to dance together. What if she can't dance?"

"Ry, CHILL." Sharpay said, opening her bedroom door. Ryan followed her in. "She's a girl, not a saber-tooth tiger. She can dance. She went to her state championship with her dance team. I'm pretty sure the girl can move. She can obviously sing. And as for you being a late-bloomer, Ryan, you aren't even a bud yet. You're like that one bulb that you know you planted, but it's just not coming up, and you cannot figure out why. So I'm giving you a push, and making sure you have a date for prom."

"Sharpay, listen." Ryan collapsed on her bed, exhausted suddenly. "I know you've always been a little concerned about my lack of interest in girls."

"It's not that you aren't interested, Ryan, it's that you're too shy to make a move." Sharpay said, sitting down at her vanity. "You aren't afraid to kiss your sister in front of a thousand people, but you can't manage to ask a girl for her number."

"I'm not me when I'm onstage." He argued. "And you are so not my sister when we're onstage either."

"Whatever." Sharpay said. "The think is, I know you like her. And she seems pretty fond of you."

"Wait, how do you know I like her?" Ryan asked, sitting up quickly.

"Well, you look at her differently." Sharpay said. "You walked her to her car, kinda. You mentioned her at least twenty times at dinner last night. Then about twenty times more on the way to school this morning." Sharpay sighed. "Ryan, it's obvious." She walked over to the bed, sat down next to Ryan and began singing.

"There she goes again  
The girl you're in love with"

"It's cool we're just friends" Ryan sang.

"You walk the halls at school" Sharpay ignored him.

"We know it's casual

It's cool we're just-" Ryan was interrupted by Sharpay

"You don't wanna lead her on  
No  
The truth is you've grown fond  
Yeah  
Everyone knows it's meant to be  
Falling in love, just you and she  
'Til the end of time  
'Til you're on her mind  
It'll happen  
You've been making lots of plans  
Like a picket fence and a rose garden  
You'll just keep on dreaming"

"But it's cool cause we're just friends" Ryan sang.  
"Small talk on IM  
Just one word sentences  
It's cool we're just friends"

Sharpay cut him off. "But if you had it your way  
You would talk and talk all day  
Yeah  
Everyone knows it's meant to be  
Falling in love, just you and she  
'Til the end of time  
'Til you're on her mind  
It'll happen  
You've been making lots of plans  
Like a picket fence and a rose garden  
You'll just keep on dreaming"

"But it's cool cause we're just friends" Ryan sang.  
"Thinking about how  
You're gonna say your vows"

"It's cool we're just friends" Ryan mumbled, losing himself to the vision Sharpay was laying out for him.

"As she walks down the aisle  
You see all your friends smile  
Cause now you're more than friends  
Everyone knows it's meant to be  
Falling in love, just you and she  
'Til the end of time  
'Til you're on her mind  
It'll happen  
You've been making lots of plans  
Like a picket fence and a rose garden  
You'll just keep on dreaming  
Keep on thinking  
Of when you used to be just friends." Sharpay finished the song, smiling at her brother.

"Okay, maybe I like her a little." Ryan said. "But how is auditioning together going to help any?"

"Well, you'll be spending tons of time with her, for start." Sharpay said, getting up and walking to Ryan's room. "And you'll talk, and get to know each other, and fall completely in love. And then you need to name your first child after me, because I so brought you two together."

"Umm…right." Ryan said, shaking his head. Sometimes Sharpay got ahead of herself. "What are you doing?" She was in his closet, moving things around and making tutting noises.

"Don't you own anything that doesn't sparkle?" She asked.

"I don't know." He shrugged. He honestly didn't. He was so used to Sharpay insisting that they matched that he hadn't really noticed what he was wearing after a while. He looked down at his current outfit of black pants, lime green polo shirt and trusty green (and sparkly, but only if you were looking for it) hat. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"Well, I was just thinking that Sarah was probably used to the more macho type, so that maybe butching you up a bit would have its advantages." Sharpay shrugged. "But I didn't realize how hard that would be." She began pulling things out at random, holding them up to her brother and throwing them into one of two piles. "Oh, finally." She threw him a pile of clothes. "Go change. Sarah will be here any minute."

"Wait…what?" He asked. She was coming over now? But why? Who had decided this?

"Go change!" She hissed. He walked into his bathroom, quickly changing into the outfit Sharpay had picked out. He heard the doorbell ring and Sharpay yell "I'll get it!! Just meet us down in the rehearsal room!" Ryan sighed, wondering what his sister had cooked up.


	5. True to your Heart

**So...yeah. totally forgot to load this earlier. It's been hanging around, kinda gathering virtual dust...but now it's not!!! So this chapter is mushy. Really mushy. And these are two of my favorite songs, so don't bash them. But yeah. I never noticed how bad I am at author notes. I'm pretty horrible at it. Oh, wait, reviewers!! They would be... moonchild524, Final Fairy, GoodnightxGoodbye, -Sami.Writes.Love.On.Her.Arms, zanessafreak6, silver candle, GiLmOrEgIrL129, IncandescentAngel, and dancerlittle. Thanks guys and keep it up!!!  
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**Disclaimer: Basically everything belongs to Disney in this chapter. Both songs and HSM. Makes me sad that I don't own anything (except Sarah).  
**

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Ryan entered the rehearsal studio that had been built for the twins in a state of total bewilderment. He saw Sharpay and Sarah standing at the piano together, pouring over sheet music. The two girls seemed to be getting along, though Ryan detected a slightly too polite aura around them. 

"I think it would be perfect." Sharpay was saying. "But it's entirely up to you two. And I mean, I don't know what kind of dance training you have had, Sarah-"

"I have taken ballroom dancing since I was four and Latin since I was eight." Sarah said. "My mom owned a studio, so it was always an option to take more classes. I took a few years of tap, jazz, and hip-hop, mostly before and during dance team."

"Wow. That's a lot of training." Sharpay said, trying to add the hours in her head. She liked to pride herself as the girl who had the most hours of practice under her belt, but she had probably just lost. "And you haven't really done any singing before?"

"Well, I was in chorus class, but that's kind of a joke." She shrugged. "Other than that, no."

"Well, that's nothing to worry about. Ryan can help you out with that. And you should actually be quite a challenge for him to keep up with, so far as dancing goes. But he's really good and he learns quickly, so I'm sure you two will be more than ready by the time auditions arrive." She looked up and saw her brother leaning against the far end of the piano. "I'll just leave you two alone."

Sarah looked up for the first time and saw Ryan. "Hey." She said with a soft smile.

"Dinner will be ready at six, and you're welcome to stay, Sarah." Sharpay yelled back as she left.

"That is so not the girl who threw someone off a slide." Sarah said, shaking her head.

"She's really changed." Ryan nodded. "It takes her a while still to warm up to people, but she's defiantly not an ice queen anymore." He looked down at the song Sarah was holding. "_God Help the Outcasts_?"

"Sharpay suggested it for me to warm up with." Sarah shrugged. "I've never heard it before."

"Yes you have." Ryan said. "You must have. It's in a Disney movie."

"Which one?" She asked.

"_The Hunchback of Notre Dame_." He said. Sarah shook her head, a sad smile on her lips. "How can you never have seen that?" He asked.

"I didn't see many Disney movies." She said. "I didn't think they were that fun."

"I bet you didn't like musicals either." Ryan said.

"You're right." She said. "I refused to sit through one until I was twelve. Then I fell in love with them."

"Musicals or Disney?" He asked.

"Both." She shrugged. "But I never saw this one. None of the kids I used to baby-sit for had it."

"It's beautiful." Ryan said. He flashed back to how she had stood up for him the morning before. "I think you would really love it." He went over to the stereo and cued up the song. "I'll sing it with you."

"Right now?" She asked as the music started.

"Why not?" He asked.

"I don't know how to read music." She said.

"I'll teach you." He said. He took her empty hand in his. "I'll squeeze your hand when it's your cue, but watch the page so you know what it looks like." She nodded, and together they sang.

"I don't know if You can hear me  
Or if You're even there  
I don't know if You would listen  
To a gypsy's prayer  
Yes, I know I'm just an outcast  
I shouldn't speak to you  
Still I see Your face and wonder...  
Were You once an outcast too?

God help the outcasts  
Hungry from birth  
Show them the mercy  
They don't find on earth  
God help my people  
We look to You still  
God help the outcasts  
Or nobody willI ask for wealth  
I ask for fame  
I ask for glory to shine on my name  
I ask for love I can posses  
I ask for God and His angels to bless me"

Ryan phased out, letting Sarah sing the last stanza on her own. She seemed unsure at first, but his smile encouraged her, and her voice grew stranger.

"I ask for nothing  
I can get by  
But I know so many  
Less lucky than I  
Please help my people  
The poor and down trod  
I thought we all were  
The children of God  
God help the outcasts  
Children of God"

"Wow." He said, as she looked down at her feet again, smiling and blushing. "You're amazing." She started to shake her head, but he cut her off. "No, you really are. This is a tough song, and you didn't make one mistake, even when I left you hanging."

"Thanks." She said shyly.

"We gotta work on your confidence." He said, shaking his head. "So, did you have an audition song in mind?"

"Not really." Sarah said. "I haven't auditioned before, and I don't know quite what I'm doing."

"Well, for the open audition, you've got to not only get the director to remember you, but show them your energy and personality all at once." Ryan explained. "It's a tall order, but you've got to prove that you can handle it."

"So it's like an audition for a closed competition." Sarah said. "You've got to prove that you know how to pick music and costumes that compliment both dancers and each other and the dance style. You've got to prove that you can dance, and that you can engage an audience."

"Exactly." Ryan said. "So, did you and Sharpay talk about audition songs too?"

"Kind of." Sarah said. She rifled through the music on the piano and found a song. "She said that this was one you had always wanted to use, but she didn't like. She thought I might like it. Apparently Troy let it slip that I'm a huge Stevie Wonder fan."

"Is it "True to Your Heart"?" Ryan asked excitedly.

"Yes." Sarah said. "Now this Disney movie I have seen."

"I would hope so." Ryan said. He took the song form Sarah's hands and marveled at how thoughtful Sharpay could be sometimes. The two ran through the song a couple times, dividing up the parts until they were satisfied. Sarah's voice grew stronger every time, and she seemed much more confident by the time Sharpay announced dinner.

During the meal, she laughed and joked with the entire family, showing none of the discomfort Troy had at his meal with the Evans'. Ryan watched his parents carefully for any sign of dislike, but they both positively beamed at Sarah. By the time they had dessert, he knew that she had won over his parents. She even hugged Sharpay as Troy pulled into the driveway. She turned to Ryan, taking his hands in hers.

"Thanks." She said, kissing him on the cheek. Sharpay, a trained actress, pretended not to notice. Ryan had no such control at the moment, and promptly turned a shade of pink his sister would have swooned over. She smiled, then ran to the truck. She hopped in, waving at the twins as Troy pulled away.

"Well, that was fun." Sharpay said, walking back into the house.

"That was cruel, Shar." Ryan said, only half meaning it. "I was in no way prepared for that."

"Yes, but you never will be, so I took matters into my own hands." She said, smiling at him. "You'll thank me."

"Yeah, whatever, Shar." He said.

"Don't worry about it now." She said. "You had a long day, and have to repeat it tomorrow. Go get some sleep."

He didn't want to obey her order, but she was right. He was exhausted and they had school tomorrow. He bade her goodnight and the two went to their separate rooms."

"I see you survived." Troy said as he sped down the empty streets of Albuquerque.

"Slow down." She said. "Or maybe I won't. And yes, I lived. It wasn't nearly as bad as you all said it would be."

"Well, Sharpay has changed a lot." Troy said.

"She wasn't even there while we were practicing." Sarah said. "She talked to me while Ryan was changing, and she wasn't critical at all. She left when he came in, and I didn't see her until dinner. She's not that bad."

"So how's Ryan?" Troy asked, a little bit of teasing hidden in his voice.

"He's amazing!!" Sarah gushed, missing the note in Troy's voice. "I can't believe that any teenage boy can sing like that. I mean, you're good too, but he's amazing. He really knows what he's doing. I mean, he's really teaching me the ropes. But oh god, his voice is beautiful."

"Okay, stop your gushing." Troy teased full out.

"Shut up." She said, scowling at him. But in her mind, all she could see was the way he had smiled at her when she got something right, and the way his eyes had lingered on her afterwards.

She got home, greeted her parents and aunt and uncle and said good night. Once upstairs, she showered and tried to study, but her thoughts were a whirlwind. Finally deciding that it would be better to sleep, she turned out the lights of the guest room, and curled up in bed, still thinking of his smile.


	6. What is this Feeling?

**Okay, so I've been feeling bad for giving you fake update, so here's a real one to make up for it. I also bring news of my decision. Since very few of you agreed (not that that was the point, but it would have made things easier), I decided to compromise. So this may sound confusing, but won't be. I have decided that we will be going with an original play written by Kelsi, but instead of writing songs that Kelsi has written, I'm going to songs from a bunch of musicals and sort of piece them together into a new one. I have a rough draft of the plot synopsis, and at the moment it includes songs from _Wicked_, _Rent_, and...that might be it, actually. I can't remember exactly. BUT ANYWAY... if you have any suggestions/requests/favorite songs that you wish to be included, just tell me!! I'll do my best to stick them in somehow. I'm already going off some of your suggestions for the play (Which is how I got the _Rent_ idea...though that might end up getting the Darbus cut). But anyway, thanks for being here guys, and I love you all!!!!**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, HSM is still owned by Disney. And we all know that Disney owns Lucas' soul, which is sad. Also, someone who isn't me owns _Wicked_. **

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Sarah had hardly gotten inside the building the next morning when Sharpay was rushing up to her, a tape player in hand.

"Okay, so I know you had fun with Ryan last night, but he's not pushing you hard enough. Your voice is pretty, but it's bland. If you're going to beat Troy and Gabriella, you've got to get past pretty. You've got to get some real emotion into your singing. Gabriella isn't past pretty yet. But we've got six days to get you there, and trust me, that's enough."

"Wait, you weren't even in there!!" Sarah exclaimed.

"I didn't have to be." Sharpay said, clicking the play button on the tape recorder. Instantly, Sarah heard her and Ryan singing. The quality was poor, but it was clear that Ryan was the better singer.

"You bugged the room?" Sarah asked, amazed at the lengths some people would go to.

"I didn't have to bug it." Sharpay explained. "Ryan and I always have a recorder running in that room. We always look back on our practices. I just forgot to turn it off for you. I'll burn it later if you want me to, but for now, it's staying. Ryan is a sweet guy, and that's why I'm here." She grasped Sarah's arm, walking down the hall with her. "I want you here every morning by 7 AM. We'll work together in the mornings and during free period. You're coming home with me and Ryan for the next week. You two can work together, either alone or with me. As much as I..." She paused, unable to bring herself to use the word 'like' "...no longer hate Gabriella and Troy, I don't want them beating me and Ryan again. And as you are the new me, so far as auditioning goes, they are not allowed to beat you."

Sarah nodded, slightly intimidated. Sharpay was reminding her a bit of a drill sergeant she saw on one of those talk shows where the teenager who was caught shoplifting was sent to boot camp. Ashe also was bringing to mind her dance coach, who had won six straight championships until they had been disqualified. Sarah found herself unconsciously standing up straighter. They were now standing at the auditorium doors, Sharpay checking her watch.

"We've got ten minutes before homeroom. Let's get in there and try to pull some emotion out of you." She pushed through the doors, pulling Sarah with her.

The two were late for homeroom, slipping into the room in the middle of another Darbus lecture. They silently found their seats on either side of Ryan, hoping Darbus wouldn't notice. Unfortunately, though not unexpectedly, she did.

"Ah, I see that Miss Bolton and Miss Evans have finally decided to grace us with their presence." She said. Both girls shrunk down in their seats. "I hope that you both will join the rest of the gang for detention, and I pray for your sake that you are not late for that as well."

Sarah nodded weakly, catching Troy's eye. He nodded as well with a sad smile, indicating that he too was suffering the wrath of Darbus.

The bell rang. The students all rushed to the door, eager to leave. Sarah sighed, picking up her bag and moving it to the other side of the room.

"Don't worry." Ryan said, following her example. "Troy, Chad, Jason, Gabriella, and Taylor are all in detention too. And me." He shrugged.

"What'd you all do?" She asked, sure that it had been one big bust.

"Well, Troy and Gabriella were kinda close." Ryan said, looking uncomfortable at the thought. "And then Chad interrupted, and Taylor hit him for ruining the moment, and then they kinda followed the other two's lead, and Jason ruined their moment, then Chad threw his basketball at Jason, who wasn't looking, and it bounced off his back and kinda into my head, and I yelled 'ow' cause it hurt, and I guess Darbus just kind of lost it, because she gave us all detention."

Sarah laughed. "Sounds about right." She said.

Ryan laughed with her for a moment, then asked. "Where were you and Sharpay?"

"In the auditorium." Sarah said, and quickly summarized his sister's speech to him. "So she wants to work with me every morning and free period, and I kind of agree with her." She finished. "She's knows what she's doing, and I don't. If she's willing to work with me, then I want to do it."

"Okay." Ryan said. "But good luck. Most people don't make it through a week with Sharpay." _Most people don't make it through a meal with her, either. _Ryan thought. _But Sarah managed. She must be stronger than I'm giving her credit for._

Free period came quickly. Sarah ran down to the auditorium, afraid of being late. She opened the door and heard the music before she saw Sharpay. When she finally found the blonde , she was scanning through a CD, trying to find a certain song.

"Hey Sarah!" She said brightly. Sarah smiled, looking more frightened than happy. Sharpay ignored it for the moment. "Ever heard of _Wicked_?" She asked.

"Oh my god, HELL YES!!" Sarah exclaimed. "It's only the most amazing musical ever!!"

"Well, I wouldn't go that far." Sharpay laughed. "But it is great."

"My parents took me to see it right before we moved here." Sarah said. "Sort of a 'Sorry We're Making You Move' present."

"Lucky!" Sharpay said. "I keep voting for it, but Ryan and Mom keep outvoting me. We go see a musical every February vacation. Well, it's good you know it, because that's your first assignment. I've cued up "What is this Feeling?' and I want you to be Elphie first. Eventually we'll switch, because Galinda's part is a bit harder, but I just want to see if you can keep up with me first. Rememeber what you're singing though. You hate me. Really hate me. Think of someone you hate."

Sarah thought for a moment. She didn't know anyone at East High well enough to hate someone. Everyone back home seemed so distant and behind her. All of a sudden, Sarah remembered her detention. Two days of school, two days in detention. A sudden emotion burst in her stomach as she thought of the teacher responsible. _Well, _She thought. _It will have to work._

"Ready?" Sharpay asked. Sarah nodded, and Sharpay pressed play.

Sharpay: Dearest, darlingest momsie and popsicle

Sarah: My dear father

Both: There's been some confusion  
Over rooming here at Shiz

Sarah: But of course I'll care for Nessa

Sharpay: But of course I'll rise above it

Both: For I know that's how you'd want me to respond, yes  
There's been some confusion for you see my roommate is

Sharpay: Unusually and exceedingly peculiar  
and altogether quite impossible to describe

Sarah: Blonde

Sharpay: What is this feeling so sudden and new

Sarah: I felt the moment I laid eyes on you

Sharpay: My pulse is rushing

Sarah: My head is reeling

Sharpay: My face is flushing

Both: What is this feeling  
Fervid as a flame  
Does it have a name  
Yeee-es  
Loathing, unadulterated loathing

Sharpay: For your face

Sarah: Your voice

Sharpay: Your clothing

Both: Let's just say, I loathe it all  
Every little trait however small  
Makes my very flesh begin to crawl  
With simple utter loathing

There's such strange exhilaration  
In such total detestation  
It's so pure, so strong  
Though I do admit it came on fast  
Still I do believe that it can last  
And I will be loathing  
Loathing you

My whole life long!

Students (on recording): Dear Galinda you are just too good  
How do you stand it I don't think I could  
She's a terror she's a tartar  
We don't mean to show a bias  
But Galinda you're a martyr

Sharpay: Well, these things are sent to try us

Students (on Recording): Poor Galinda forced to reside  
With someone so disgustifified  
We want to tell you  
We're all on your side!!

Students (on recording): We share your loathing  
Both: What is this feeling so sudden and new  
Students (on recording): Unadulterated loathing  
Both: I felt the moment I laid eyes on you

Students (on recording): For her face, her voice, her clothing  
Both: My pulse is rushing  
Students (on recording): Let's just say  
Both: My head is reeling  
Students (on recording): We loathe it all!  
Both: Oh what is this feeling?

Students (on recording): Every little trait however small  
Both: Does it have a name  
Students (on recording): Makes our very flesh begin to crawl   
Both: Yes

All: A-ah

Both: Loathing  
There's such strange exhilaration  
In such total detestation  
It's so pure so strong  
Though I do admit it came on fast  
Still I do believe that it can last

And I will be loathing for forever  
Loathing truly, deeply  
Loathing you  
My whole life long

Sarah: Boo!

Sharpay: Ah!

The two girls managed to hold it together until the music ended, then both burst out laughing.

"That was a scream?" Sarah asked.

"I thought it was." Sharpay giggled. "Didn't sound so great, did it?"

"You sounded like a whimpering puppy." Sarah said honestly. The two girls laughed some more before Sharpay regained composure.

"You're already better." She said. "I heard some emotion in that. Who were you thinking of?"

"Darbus." Sarah said, causing both girls to laugh again.

"She'd do it." Sharpay said. "But really, you've got a great voice. You just need to explore it more."

"Thanks." Sarah said. "For everything. I mean, you don't have to do this, Sharpay. And I really do appreciate it."

"Don't worry about it." The blond responded. "It's not like Troy and Gabriella aren't getting help from Kelsi anyway. And not to downplay you or anything, but this is mostly for Ryan. I mean, he didn't really show it much, but losing out to a basketball jock was a hit below the belt. Not that Troy isn't a nice guy." She added quickly. "But still. Drama isn't his thing. And for people like Ryan and me, it's all we've got."

"Like dance." Sarah said. "You get the same feeling. It's past adrenaline, though. It's not like with a sport, or even team dance. When it's just you and your partner-"

"It's like the world is just the two of you." Sharpay finished. "Everyone else melts away, and you aren't yourself. You've become the dance." The two girls just stared at each other. Neither had told these things to another person, assuming that they would just think them weird.

"Yeah." Sarah said, her voice hardly above a whisper.

The moment was broken as the door to the auditorium opened. "I thought you guys were practicing." A familiar voice said.

"We were." Sharpay said. She turned towards her brother, smiling. "She's much better." She checked her watch. "Have you two decided on a dance yet?"

"Not really." Ryan said, hopping up on stage. "Why? Got an idea?" He smiled brightly at both girls, and Sarah felt her heart do a couple of impromptu swing moves in her chest.

"No." Sharpay shrugged. "Just wondering. I haven't seen Sarah dance at all. Maybe you two could try something together now." She looked up at the sound of her name. Dance? Now? The idea made her sick. She wasn't ready- not yet.

"Sure!" Ryan said, walking towards her. _Oh no._ She thought. _Oh no. No no NO! Not so quickly. Especially not with him, in all his Ryan-ness_. He came closer. She was suddenly aware of how much bigger than her he was. Not in a bad way. But he was a good four or five inches taller than her. As he took her hand, she felt small, almost dainty with him. Her heart was racing, and she was already tripping over her own feet. _Breathe. _She said. _He's just a boy. Just a dance partner. He's nothing special…_ She shivered as his other hand found hers. _Okay, so maybe he's a little special. But it's only because he's nice._

"You guys should do something up tempo." Sharpay said from over at the boom box she scanned through a new CD, looking for a song. Finally making a selection, she let is play. Ryan seemed to be talking, but Sarah didn't hear him. She nodded every so often, then followed his lead. Her foot work was messy, her extensions were a disgrace, and she wasn't keeping with the rhythm. After only about a minute, Sharpay turned off the music.

"I'm really nervous." Sarah quickly explained. "I haven't really danced with someone for a while-"

"Define "a while."" Sharpay said.

"Ah, well, after the suspension, I was kinda angry, and blamed dancing. So I stopped dancing in competitions and stuff, and my partner was pissed, so we kind of had a fight and broke the whole thing off. Then over the summer, I continued private lessons but the trouble with that is that I didn't have a partner. And then my parents were all about moving here, so I didn't have time for any dancing until I got here. So I guess, since I haven't really danced with a person since we got suspended, it's been…" She did some quick counting. "six months."

The twins just stared at her. "Six months?" Ryan finally said. He couldn't believe that someone could go six months without dancing. He could barely go six hours.

"Well, I mean, I have been dancing." She said, with a small, apologetic smile. "Just not with anyone."

"Well then, in that case screw the singing." Sharpay said. "You and Ryan need to be in here everyday dancing." She turned, hearing the bell. "Starting tomorrow." She headed out the door, leaving Sarah and Ryan staring at each other.

"Six months?" He asked again. She nodded. "Sharpay's right. We've got to be dancing every free moment." He suddenly realized he was holding her hands still. "Spin." He commanded, and Sarah's reaction was instinctual. She turned quickly on the ball of her foot, her hair whipping around her face before she made a quick stop. It wasn't sloppy at all, unlike her dancing earlier. "Much better." He smiled encouragingly. "We just have to take baby-steps." The late bell rang, reminding both teenagers that they were indeed in school. "After detention tonight." He said, giving her a swift hug. Both hearts racing, the two rushed to class, counting down the minutes until they could meet again.


	7. A Wondrous Place

**AUDITION TIME!!! That's part of the reason why this chapter is not crazy-interesting. But they must be done. I hate auditions so much. Even when I have to do them. They're not fun. Not at all. sigh Oh well. I gotta thank dancerlittle, and -Sami.Fo.Fami- for reviewing. It really means a lot to me.  
**

**I'm trying to get excited to go to homecoming. It's tonight, and I don't know why I'm going. I guess because my friends are. It was either that or a fingereleven concert, and I'm not much of a fan. **

**Songs belong to Disney. Yes, both of them. I think. They don't belong to me.  
**

* * *

The next week passed in flurry of singing and dancing. Sarah had regained her former grace and glory, becoming a true dancer once again. Often, Ryan found himself trying his hardest to keep up with her. And although the two were good friends, the stress of auditions was taking its toll, and tempers started flaring the Thursday of auditions.

"Ryan, I don't know if this is news to you, but a jive is an UPTEMPO dance." Sarah reminded him sharply as the two practiced onstage before school. "And with most uptempo songs, your feet tend to move quickly."

"Well, Miss Sarah, my feet would be moving a lot faster if you would just remember your left from you right, so I didn't have to for the both of us!" Ryan snapped.

"Okay love birds, either hug it out or get back to work." Sharpay yelled. The two rolled their eyes, and continued their dance, getting every step perfect. Still, they both found things to comment on, things they could improve on.

"Smile." Ryan whispered backstage, three periods later as they prepared to take the stage for real. Sarah instantly pasted a dazzling smile on her face. "Gum." Ryan pointed to a trash can. Sarah spit out the white blob she had been gnawing on nervously. He set his hands on her shoulders, looking her up down for the slightest imperfection in appears. She had worn a black full skirt covered in white polka dots (with a pair of cheer shorts underneath, just in case) and a fitted blue tank top. Her make-up was clean and fresh, her dark hair clipped back. "You look beautiful." He said. Her smile wavered for a moment, then strengthened.

"You're not looking too bad yourself." She laughed softly. Ryan blushed deeply, and she laughed again. She wasn't lying. He was looking quite fetching in his black pants, cerulean shirt (She couldn't help but notice how the color made his eyes pop) and blue and black newsie cap. She reached up and pulled the brim of the cap a little to the side. "Perfect." She said. "Now remember, no improv. I don't do so well with that."

"Right." Ryan nodded. "And chemistry."

"Lots of chemistry." Sarah nodded.

"And forget the people."

"What people?" She smiled deviously.

"Ryan and Sarah!!" Ms. Darbus called. The two took a deep breath and walked on stage. The music started, and they both disappeared into their own world.

Ryan: Baby, I knew at once  
That you were meant for me  
Deep in my soul I know  
That I'm your destiny  
Though you're unsure  
Why fight the tide  
Don't think so much  
Let your heart decide

Sarah: Baby, I see your future  
And it's tied to mine  
I look in your eyes  
And see you searching for a sign  
But you'll never fall  
'Til you let go  
Don't be so scared  
Of what you don't know

Both: True to your heart  
You must be true to your heart  
That's when the heavens will part  
And baby, shower you with my love  
Open your eyes  
Your heart can tell you no lies  
And when you're true to your heart  
I know it's gonna lead you straight to me

Sarah: Someone you know is on your side  
Can set you free  
I can do that for you  
If you believe in me

Ryan: Why second guess  
What feels so right  
Just trust your heart  
And you'll see the light

Sarah: True to your heart  
You must be true to your heart  
That's when the heavens will part  
And baby, shower you with my love

Ryan: Open your eyes  
Your heart can tell you no lies  
And when you're true to your heart  
I know it's gonna lead you straight to me

Both: You know it's true

Sarah: Your heart knows what's good for you

Both: Let your heart show you the way

Ryan: It'll see you through

Ryan: Girl, your heart is driving me  
To where you are

Sarah: Well, you can take both hands off the wheel  
And still get far  
Be swept away

Ryan: Enjoy the ride

Both: You won't get lost  
With your heart to guide you

Both: True to your heart  
You must be true to your heart  
That's when the heavens will part  
And baby, shower you with my love  
Open your eyes  
Your heart can tell you no lies  
And when you're true to your heart  
I know it's gonna lead you straight to me

Both: When things are getting crazy  
And you don't know where to start  
Keep on believing, baby  
Just be true to your heart  
When all the world around you  
It seems to fall apart  
Keep on believing, baby  
Just be true to your heart

Both teens were surprised by the clapping. They had forgotten that they were in an auditorium full of their classmates. For three minutes, it had just been the two of them and the music. Breathing hard, their hearts racing, They gave a quick bow before rushing off stage.

"That was-"

"AMAZING!!" Sarah squealed, cutting Ryan off. She jumped up into his arms, hugging him fiercely. He lifted her off the ground and spun her around, setting her back down gently. "I've never felt like that before." She said. "It was just so…"

"Natural." Ryan said. "Perfect. Comfortable." _Right. _It was true. He had never felt so right in his life. They had moved together, as one. She felt like a natural extension of his own body, and he of hers.

"Exactly." She said, beaming. _Damn, she's beautiful._ He thought, watching her search around for her water bottle. She smiled at him when he caught her eye, and it was enough to make him forget his name and birth date. "Come on." She said, finding her water. "We've got to watch the other auditions." She took his hand and led him out the side door to the auditorium. They plopped down in two seats just as Troy and Gabriella came out.

Troy: I can show you the world  
Shining, shimmering, splendid  
Tell me, princess, now when did  
You last let your heart decide?

Troy: I can open your eyes  
Take you wonder by wonder  
Over, sideways and under  
On a magic carpet ride

Troy: A whole new world  
A new fantastic point of view  
No one to tell us no  
Or where to go  
Or say we're only dreaming

Gabriella: A whole new world  
A dazzling place I never knew  
But when I'm way up here  
It's crystal clear  
That now I'm in a whole new world with you

Troy: Now I'm in a whole new world with you

Gabriella: Unbelievable sights  
Indescribable feeling  
Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling  
Through an endless diamond sky

Gabriella: A whole new world

Troy: Don't you dare close your eyes

Gabriella: A hundred thousand things to see

Troy: Hold your breath - it gets better

Gabriella: I'm like a shooting star  
I've come so far  
I can't go back to where I used to be

Troy: A whole new world  
Gabriella: Every turn a surprise  
Troy: With new horizons to pursue  
Gabriella: Every moment red-letter  
Both: I'll chase them anywhere  
There's time to spare  
Let me share this whole new world with you

Troy: A whole new world

Gabriella: A whole new world  
Troy: That's where we'll be

Gabriella: That's where we'll be  
Troy: A thrilling chase  
Gabriella: A wondrous place  
Both: For you and me

Ryan and Sarah exchanged a nervous look. Troy and Gabriella were really good. It was obvious they had been working on it.

"We can dance better than them." Ryan whispered. Sarah nodded in agreement. Dancing was not Troy's strength. Even while walking, he moved like a basketball player.

"They were still really good." She whispered.

"Don't think like that." Ryan said. He gave her hand a quick, strong squeeze. "We were amazing."

"Right." She nodded. "Amazing." There was an awkward pause. "When does the posting go up again?"

"Tomorrow morning." Ryan reminded her.

"I can't wait that long!!" She cried. Auditions were finished now, and people were just milling around waiting for the bell to ring.

"Great job, you guys!" Gabriella said, running out from the backstage.

"You too!" Sarah said smiling.

"Thanks." She said. "But you guys are totally gonna get it. There was no beating that."

"She's right." Troy said. "I mean, you two already got an advantage, seeing as Ryan, unlike me, can dance."

"Hey, you did pretty well." Sarah said. "I might even think of admitting to being related to you."

"Oh, yeah, thanks." Troy said sarcastically.

"Oh my GOD you guys were amazing!!" Sharpay said, running down to them. "All four of you!! This is going to be so hard. Well, I mean the real casting, but you four obviously got callbacks. I mean, come on, no one else knew what they were doing. But you four, oh my god, this will be impossible!! I mean, I know who Darbus is pulling for, but she's just a crazy old bat anyway, so who cares what she thinks." She waved a perfectly manicured hand around to prove some point. "We have to go out and celebrate tomorrow night!! What do say, guys, we get the rest of the gang together and head out for dinner tomorrow? There's a new Mexican place on Elm Street that Ryan and I have dying to try. What do you guys say?" There was murmur of agreement. "Great! I'll go tell everyone now, before they have to go to class again." Just as quickly as she had arrived, she was gone.

"She's nervous." Ryan said, shrugging. "She was talking more than usual."

"Really?" Troy asked. "Didn't notice." Gabriella hit him playfully. "Well, we better get to class." Troy said as the bell rang.

"Yeah, us too." Ryan said. "See you guys at lunch." The two pair turned and exited separate doors.

"Ryan." Sarah said suddenly as they made their way down the hall together.

"Yeah, darlin'?" He asked. The pet name shocked her, but she hid it.

"Thank you." She said. "For everything."

"You're welcome." He said. "And thank you."

"My pleasure." She said. The two hugged quickly, then went to separate classes to fidget, wait, and dream.


	8. This is Fate

**Okay kids, so this is a big chapter. I'm excited about it. Thanks to becc-gallanter, IncandescantAngel, dancerlittle, and zvforever for reviewing.  
**

** Everything is this chapter belongs to Disney and HSM, because I am too lazy to find a new song.  
**

* * *

Sarah couldn't sit still for the next twenty four hours. She nervously jiggled her foot through classes, paced the gym waiting for Troy to give her a ride home, ate while walking around the center island in the Bolton kitchen, and ever danced in the shower, all to try and release her nervous energy. But as she sat down to attempt her homework, she found that she was incapable of finding the root of x, completely baffled on what the symbolism of women was in Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and unsure of whether it was Henry VIII that six wives of Henry VI. Her thoughts were not only occupied by the coming postings of call backs, but also on the boy that had taken her there.

Try as she might, she could not shake from her the vision of Ryan's endless blue eyes looking at her, almost hungrily, in a way that made her entire body feel weak. She saw the moment perfectly, even now, surrounded by school books with The Almost blasting in the background. His hands were at her waist, pulling her closer. She lifted her hands to his shoulders, feeling her footing leave her for a moment. Her arms automatically locked around his neck, pulling his face towards hers. There they remained, for a moment that lasted a lifetime, locked in an embrace that neither seemed ready to break. Her heart knew what should happen next, even if her body wasn't ready. She couldn't move, and was almost afraid to, as if any motion would frighten him into breaking away. But the moment ended as swiftly as it had come on, as the music hadn't stopped as time had. being professionals, they carried on the dance, both breaking away as Sarah spun gracefully. She wasn't sure afterwards if she had been dizzy and lightheaded before or after the turn. It didn't feel important as she drifted to sleep, replaying the scene in her head.

The next morning Sarah resumed her fidgeting. She walked around the island again during breakfast, causing Troy to follow her, making himself dizzy. She kept changing the radio station on the way to school, and took her jacket off four or five times within the fifteen minute ride. Finally she saw the now-familiar brick building, and her feet began tapping out a frantic beat on the floor.

"You know, fidgeting it's going to help you much." Troy reminded her.

"Yes it does." She said. Troy pulled into a parking spot in the senior lot, and Sarah was out of the truck before he had even put it in park. She scanned the parking lot while hopping up and down on her Converse encased feet, looking for a familiar flash of pink. Spotting it, she walked briskly towards it, a familiar figure leaning against the nose of the car.

"I didn't expect you to wait outside!" She called, rushing towards Ryan.

"I didn't have a choice." He explained, giving her a quick hug. "The sheet is right inside the door. There's no way I could have gone in without seeing it." He took a step back, looking at her critically. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"A little." She said truthfully. "You?"

"Not as much as I would have liked." He said with a small smile. "Sharpay kept me up, trying to get me to ask her about the casting."

"Casting?" Sarah said. "Casting? You mean there won't be call backs?"

"Apparently not." Ryan said. "She said something about not needing them." He studied the panicked look on her face. "It's not uncommon."

"I know." Sarah said. "It's like that with dance team auditions. But the only time I went through that, the girls were all freshmen who did know their left from their right. There was no competition. This time there is."

"We'll be fine." Ryan assured her. "Ready?" She nodded. Locking hands, they walked into the school.

There on the bulletin board was a bright yellow sheet of paper with two lists; a list of characters and a list of actors. There was already a crowd around it, some looking pleased, others disappointed. The two walked forward, and the crowd seemed to part for them. Sarah heard voices, but was unsure of what they said. It seemed only two sense remained within her. She had the sight to read the paper in front of her, and the touch to feel Ryan's hand in her own.

"Maureen…Gabriella Montez." Ryan read out loud. "Kerry…Sarah Bolton…and Joel…Ryan Evans!" He pulled her into an enormous hug, spinning her around a few times. "We got it!!! WE DID IT!!!!!!" He set her back down, but didn't let her go. She quickly found herself getting lost in his eyes again, and was quite content there. Was it her imagination, or was his head moving closer to hers? No, defiantly not her mind playing tricks. This was it. After a week of wanting it, she was actually going to-

"I GOT IT!!!!!!!!!" A high pitched shriek made both of them jump away. Gabriella (the culprit) and Troy were locked in a tight embrace, and were soon kissing in a fashion that Sarah was sure she had been moments away from. She smiled at them, and accepted a hug and "congratulations" from Chad and Taylor. Troy was next to her soon, hugging and laughing with her.

"You were worried for nothing!" He exclaimed.

"If you say so." She said weakly. Over his shoulders he spotted Ryan and Chad talking, and couldn't suppress the slight anger at Troy and Gabriella for ruining what could have been a perfect moment.

"Come on." Chad said. "We're gonna be late for homeroom, and not all of us are Darbus' new favorites!!" There was some good-natured laughing at his words, and everyone headed toward the room. Darbus handed out the scripts in homeroom, and Sarah used hers to distract herself from the beautiful blond in front of her. She smiled as she read the words to the songs, every one so beautiful, and so clearly Kelsi. She found a note within the pages, and read it carefully.

_Sarah-_

_Congrats on the part! I tweaked the script a bit after meeting you and finding out that Sharpay wasn't auditioning. I know I shouldn't have done it, but I ended up making Kerry especially for you. She's not you, but what you could be. Be nice to her. She's a bit of a challenge, but with Sharpay and I helping you out, you should be able to perform it perfectly. And as for Ryan…take care of him. He's a great guy, and we can all tell that you really care for him, so don't hurt him. Or you'll have most of East High hunting you down. _

_Break a leg!!_

_Kelsi_

Sarah found herself smiling in spite of the somewhat sharp remark at the end. She was being challenged again, something she had been missing since the end of her dancing. She also had permission to really pursue Ryan, an activity she was both awaiting anxiously and dreading. She gave the blond head in front of her a quick glance, a smile automatically gracing her lips. She couldn't explain the attraction in a few words. Every time she tried, she ended up gushing, and it was annoying even to her. He made her feel real, alive in a way she hadn't felt for nearly six months. The sexy, confident woman that she had always been while dancing was starting to emerge slowly but surely, combing the tangles out of her hair and performing a few hesitant salsa twists. And it was all in response to him. But it didn't stop there. It was like he had opened a part of her that she had been keeping a cage, only allowing out when she needed her. Now that she had IT (because she still wasn't sure what had been unleashed- her confidence? Her alter ego? The true self she had been hiding?) had seen the world, IT wasn't going to go away. She found she wasn't hesitant on anything anymore. Although her heart starting dancing as soon as she saw him, she could still talk to Ryan without fear of mortal embarrassment. In fact, there was nothing she liked better than talking to him. Just talking. His expressions were everything she could have hoped for, understanding and comforting, yet practical.

As if reading her thoughts, he turned in his seat, a soft smile on his face, his blue eyes twinkling with delight. "Congratulation, my leading lady." He said.

"And you too, star." She said, also grinning. He opened his mouth to say more, but the bell rang. Sighing, the two dragged their bags to the other side of the room, slumping into two new seats.

"So what did your note from Kelsi say?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing much." She shrugged, hoping she had become a good actress by this point. "Just said break a leg and gave some more info on the character. Yours?" She asked, hoping to put him on the spot as well.

"Oh, same thing mostly." He shrugged, almost convincing Sarah. But there was something in the way that his eyes wouldn't meet hers that she didn't trust. She was about to mention it when he cut her off. "So Sharpay is getting the cast and crew together at Margarita's for a little celebratory dinner tonight. Are you planning on coming?"

"Yeah, I guess." Sarah nodded. "I mean, Troy is going, and god knows I don't want to be home alone on a Friday night." She smiled. "I'm guessing you have no choice in the matter."

"Oh I have a choice." He said. "But you said it. Who wants to be home alone on Friday night?" He coughed slightly, and then continued. "And we should probably be there. You know, as leads."

She laughed. "Yeah. Probably."

"Good." He smiled. She was about to ask him to explain, but Darbus had taken her stage, and the class fell silent.

Time slowed down as Sarah willed it to move faster. She was sick of being in school. The glances from Ryan were the only things keeping her from going completely mad. After what seemed like a month, the final bell rang. Sarah bolted to the door, running into Troy who told her that he and Chad were spending the afternoon in the gym again. Sighing, she returned to her locker, trying to figure out how she was going to spend her first empty afternoon. Sharpay had given her and Ryan the afternoon off (her words, not theirs), so she wasn't expected at the Evans Mansion or in the auditorium. Her teachers had been generous, and had given her a manageable amount of homework. There was no need to start it now. She sighed, closing her locker. She decided to head over to the auditorium anyway, and either do a little dancing on the stage or start her homework.

As she opened the door, she saw that she wasn't the only one thinking the same thing. Ryan was lounging on stage, his long, lean body stretched out front and center, his voice filling the empty space.

"We're soaring, flying

There's not a star is heaven that we can't reach

If we're trying

Yeah we're breaking free."

"Running, climbing" Sarah joined in. She had recognized the song instantly. Troy still ran around the house singing it. Ryan looked up in surprise, but didn't stop singing as she approached the stage.

"To get to that place

To be all that we can be

Now's the time

So we're breaking free." The two trailed off, Sarah now standing next to the stage, her eyes level with his.

"When did you learn that song?" He asked softly.

"Just picked it up from Troy." She said. "It's from last year's play, right?" He nodded. "It's amazingly catchy."

"You're telling me." He said. "The entire cast had it stuck in their heads for weeks."

"I can see why." She said.

She was suddenly aware of how close their faces were. They hadn't been this close since dancing the day before. She was sure he could see any clumps her mascara had made. She could feel his breath against her cheek, which smelled like the mint mocha frappucino sitting next to him. It was an intoxicating scent, which explained why she turned towards it, bringing her closer to him. Her blue eyes found his, and her world was suddenly tipped. She didn't know nor care where she was. All she could do was feel. She felt his hand against her face, lifting her chin up gently. She felt as he dragged his fingertips slowly against her jaw, sending shivers up and down her spine. She felt his hair against her own fingers, gently brushing the loose strands out of those bright blue eyes that had her spinning while standing still. She sighed softly, losing herself to the moment, to the sensation, the closeness of the boy in front of her. She drew closer, as did he, and she felt his breath now on her lips, gentle and sweet. Her nose was teased with the tantalizing scents of him, an indescribable mix of all the things she found familiar. She had long ago learned Ryan's unique scent, and was now imbued in it. It didn't feel like one of them closed the gap between the two sets of lips, but more like the sensation had been bred from the overwhelming of both of their senses. Suddenly, they both became aware that the tingling in their lips was not from wishful thinking, but from reality. The warm, sweet pressure, gentle at first, was slowly increased as realization dawned on the two teenagers. Sarah's fingertips weaved through the hair that escaped Ryan's hat as his fingers drew small, soft circles up and down her neck. The moment lasted for their whole lives and shortest second recorded. Neither of them will ever be sure how long they were really connected, but nor will they forget how it was broken.

"DUDE!!"

"Shh!! Man, why are you so loud??"

"But did you see that?? I mean, that was Sarah!!"

"No shit, Sherlock."

"But that was Ryan!!"

"Thanks for the update, Chad."

"But they are-"

"WERE" Sarah yelled, correcting him. She turned slowly, contemplating the best way to kill her cousin and his best friend.

"Huh?" Chad's head popped out from behind the wall to the auditorium lobby.

"Were." Sarah repeated.

"Oh, okay." He said. He went back behind the wall and continued. "They were-"

"I know!!" Troy yelled. There was the familiar sound of flesh hitting flesh, followed by a large amounting of swearing from Chad. Troy emerged, rushing down the aisle. "I'm so sorry about him. You see, the thing with Chad is, he doesn't know the meaning of romance."

"I do too!!!" Chad said, running after Troy. "And that hurt, man. Since when did you learn to hit like a girl?"

"Picked it up from Gabs." He shrugged. "Umm... we kinda have to go home now, Sarah."

"Okay." She said. Although she had thoroughly enjoyed kissing Ryan, it was now awkward between them, mostly because Troy and Chad were in the room. Sarah knew they would not leave without her. She turned to the blond, who was determinedly looking down at the hardwood stage. "I'll see you tonight." She said softly. He nodded, smiled, and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek before standing up.

"Shar should be ready by now." He said.

"Where is she?" Sarah asked.

"Backstage, cleaning out her dressing room." Ryan said. He wondered why she was taking so long. In a flash of brilliance, he realized that she too had probably walked in on them, but in a tactful move had simply left them alone.

"We'll see you later, Ryan." Troy called.

Ryan smiled and waved and headed backstage.

"I'm gonna kick the shit outta you later!!" Chad yelled at his retreating back. Ryan just laughed, never stopping.

"Well, that sure scared him." Troy said with an amused look.

"It should have." Chad nodded, trying to look tough. "He should be scared."

"No Chad." Sarah said. "You should be scared." She reached up and hit him as hard as possible on the head. He felt it, even through his hair.

"OW!" He yelled. "What, is hitting hard in the genes or something?"

"You deserve that." Troy said.

"Damn straight he deserves that!!" Sarah yelled. "What the hell did you think you were doing?? That was the most inconsiderate thing that you have ever..." Chad tuned out about then, sure that it wasn't going to get more interesting.

Meanwhile, Ryan was awkwardly sitting in the front seat, now sure that his sister had seen more than she was letting on.

"We're going to have so much fun tonight." She was gushing as she steered them expertly through a tricky intersection. Ryan was sure that she was the only human being who could talk and do everything else at the same time. "I'm so happy with this cast, I can't even tell you. And the surprising thing is that Kelsi is too. I though she was going to be really upset that I didn't cast troy and Gabriella as the leads, but she seemed fine with it. I mean, not that Maureen and Kevin aren't on-stage a lot, because they have tons of scenes. And I mean, they easily get one of the best songs in the play. But really, they couldn't have handled that last duet. And you and Sarah just have so much chemistry, it's crazy." She stopped suddenly, having finally hit on the issue she had been trying to avoid. There was an awkward silence that Ryan didn't try to break. Eventually Sharpay did it for him. "So I'm really happy with this cast. And having most of the Wildcats involved will just be an added bonus. I mean, who knew that Taylor could dance? She probably just studied the physics of it and figured it out from there. But she wasn't bad. She's going to need lots of practice, that's for sure. And Chad, Zeke, and Jason offered to do some crew work for us. They should, seeing as they're so tall."

Ryan was sure she was still talking, but he was no longer listening. His mind wandered back to the auditorium, to the exhilarating feeling of her lips against his. He tried to focus on Sharpay, as she had an uncanny habit of asking him questions as soon as he stopped listening, but he couldn't. He had opened the floodgates, and now every sensation filled his senses. He gave a small, involuntary shiver thinking about it.

"Ryan!" Sharpay's voice broke through his thoughts. "Should I wear the pink or blue tonight?"


	9. Wishing Only Wounds the Heart

**Shout outs to dancerlittle, doodleswriter357, IncandecentAngel, Angelic-Baby X3, and Final Fairy for reviewing. So... yeah y'all are probably going to hate me after this chapter, but I swear this is a temporary thing. They just need to...work through some things. Realize exactly how much they mean to each other. So yeah, happiness is not on the order for this one. But, there are three different songs (not the whole thing, because no one wants to read that much in lyrics), none of which I own. The First one is called "Everything's Magic", and that belongs to Angels and Airwaves (who are not better than +44). The second is one line from "Lucky Star" and old-school Madonna song, from back before she was British and adopting African boys and getting banned from Egypt. And the last one, used in the scene which made me cry as I was writing it, is a slightly modified version of "I'm Not That Girl" from Wicked. Also, HSM is not mine. Although someday I will own Lucas. Or I will go back in the past to Ancient Rome where fair-haired slaves were the hottest fall accessory and buy him. That sounds pretty awesome, (though not possible).**

* * *

"So, I heard the geek got the girl." Chad said, jumping onto Ryan's bed. The two had gotten close over the summer.

"Chad, you were there." Ryan reminded him. "You kinda interrupted the whole thing, remember?"

"Oh, yeah…" Chad said, as if the thought had just occurred to him. "That was looking pretty intense."

"Yeah…" Ryan trailed off, looking down.

"What's up?" Chad asked, flipping over so that he was on his back.

"Well, I'm just not…sure, I guess…what happened." Ryan shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure you kissed Sarah Bolton." Chad said. "But, you know, I could be wrong-"

"Shut up, lunkhead." Ryan threw a pillow at him. "I know I kissed Sarah. What I'm trying to say is, I'm not sure how that happened."

Chad stared at him for a moment, then nodded. "I know what you mean."

Ryan snorted, rather unattractively. "Yeah, okay."

"No, I'm serious." Chad nodded. "It was just one of those things that…happened." He shrugged. "I can't describe it. But I know what you mean."

Ryan watched him, suspicious. "Well, yeah." He sighed. "I don't know how it happened, and I don't know why, and I don't know what it means."

"Well, most girls don't kiss boys they dislike." Chad reasoned. "And Sarah is shy. She doesn't even talk to boys. Well. Except for me. And Troy. And Jason. And Zeke. And-"

"You're being unhelpful again." Ryan cut in.

"Well, you know what I mean." Chad shook his head. "She doesn't talk to people she doesn't like, and she doesn't kiss boys she doesn't like. So it's a safe bet that she likes you." Chad tried to suppress the wicked grin that was forcing its way to his lips. "And if you're actions are any indication, you like her too."

"You have no idea." Ryan said, shaking his head.

"So, what most people do, when they like someone and someone likes them back, they tend to start dating." Chad said, as though instructing a toddler.

"But I don't…" Ryan trailed off, turning his pink face away from his friend.

"You don't what?" Chad asked.

"Nothing." Ryan said.

"No, you started a sentence." Chad said. "If I'm correct, it went 'I don't…' What is it that you don't do, Ryan? I would think that that phrase wasn't even in your vocabulary. "

"I don't date!" Ryan finally said.

"Why not?" Chad asked.

"Have you met my sister?" He asked. "Do you think she would approve of any girl?"

"You need her approval?" Chad asked.

"It's a lot easier to get her approval than to deal with her wrath." Ryan said.

"But she loves Sarah." Chad said. "Or at least, doesn't hate her." Chad watched his friend. "Ry, you have to give it a shot. Trust me on this, Sarah is heels over head. And I know you are the same way. You have to try."

Ryan nodded. "I know." He smiled to himself, remembering the electricity that had been their emotions as their lips had touched. "I know."

"So wait, you're telling me that you kiss a guy that you have been obsessing over since you set eyes on him, and yet you don't want to date him?" Taylor looked at her like she was crazy.

"That's mean." Gabriella said.

"It wasn't supposed to happen." Sarah said, pushing away the memory of his lips against hers. "I made a mistake. It could never work between us, so there is no point."

"But…I don't get it." Gabriella sat down on the bed next to her new friend. "You said yourself that you can't get him out of your head. Isn't that reason enough why it could work?"

"It's so easy for you to say that." Sarah said. "You have Troy."

"What does Troy have to do with Ryan?" Taylor asked.

"Nothing, really." Sarah said. "But it's always easier for girls in a relationship to see why any relationship is a good idea. But I'm telling you, it would be different for me and Ryan."

"Not really." Taylor said.

"I'm not ready for it." Sarah dismissed. "I don't want to get into it."

"All right then." Taylor and Gabriella knew to drop it, that Sarah had made her decision, and wasn't going to change it anytime soon. Taylor gave her a stern look. "But right now, you're walking away from the best thing you could have had."

"Save the lecture." Sarah said, grabbing her clothes and rushing to the bathroom. Once safely behind the door, she let her tears fall, their path making shining lines down her face. If she turned just right in the light above her mirror, she could pretend it was silver make-up. She quickly pulled on the clothes she was wearing to dinner, ignoring the pleasant music that came from her bedroom. Obviously Taylor and Gabriella had gotten sick of silence. Once dressed, Sarah leaned against the door, taking in the words that she could hear.

"So hear this please  
And watch as your heart speeds up endlessly  
And look for the stars as the sun goes down  
Each breath that you take has a thunderous sound  
Everything, everything's magic."

Why did it seem like a love song? She had heard it several times before; it was always on the radio. And yet, hearing the words with the thoughts weighing her mind, she was certain that they were a testament to teenage love, a strong, courageous love that would never die. The kind of love that seemed to well in her heart at the very thought of Ryan.

"Just sit back and hold on, but hold on tight  
Prepare for the best and the fastest ride  
And reach out your hand, and I'll make you mine  
Everything, everything's magic."

The only thing that wasn't magic was her. Sarah was as ordinary as a person could get, and that's why she didn't deserve him. That's why she couldn't have him.

Dinner was awkward. Sarah had situated herself between Chad and Troy, a gesture that confused Ryan. What was worse, she hardly even looked at him the whole night, much less speak to him. She laughed and smiled with the girls, and joked around with two of the boys. But she never spared even a smile towards Ryan. It wasn't until the end of the night, as everyone was getting ready to leave, that he got an explanation. After hearing it, he realized how pleasant that cold shoulder had been.

They were gathered in the parking lot, making last minute plans before everyone went their separate ways. Sarah stayed out of it, choosing instead to wander around in circles, looking at the sky. Ryan joined her, sneaking up so that she couldn't hear him.

"Hey." He said, placing his hand on her shoulder. She jumped, slipping from his grasp as if he had burned her. "Sarah, what's wrong. You're acting…weird."

"Nothing's wrong." She said. She sighed. "Everything's wrong. I…I think we should be friends, Ryan." She turned to face him finally, her jaw set, her mouth a hard, thin line. "Just friends."

Ryan went numb. Part of him had seen it coming. The other part…well, the other part wouldn't have ever thought it an option. "Sarah, are…?" The question died on his lips. He knew she was sure. He couldn't stop it. He didn't want to stop it. He loved her, really loved her, to the point where he only wanted her to be happy. "If this is what you want." He lowered his eyes, unable to look at her.

"Ryan., I'm really sorry." She said. "I just don't want to-"

"It's okay." The last thing he needed was excuses. "Really Sarah. I understand." A complete lie, but who was counting? "We can be friends."

"That would be good." She said quietly. They stood together, the awkward silence rooting them to the spot. Finally, Sarah heard Troy calling her name "Well, I better get going." She said.

"Yeah, me too." Ryan nodded, still not looking at her. "I'll see you at rehearsals."

"Yeah." Sarah said. She looked up, as if to say more, but then just turned and headed across the parking lot.

Ryan didn't move until he saw Troy's taillights disappear around the corner. Sighing, he quickly wiped away his tears, determined to show Sharpay the professional side of him. He knew she was waiting in the car, wondering what was up. Steeling himself, he walked over and slid into the driver's seat of his own hunter green convertible.

"What's up?" Sharpay asked, pulling her gaze from the mirror.

"Nothing." He turned the ignition. "I'm fine."

"What did Sarah want to talk about?" She asked.

"Just the play." Ryan shrugged. Taking a deep breath, he added. "She wants to stay friends."

Sharpay raised an eyebrow. "Really?" The delicate emphasis on her one word was all her brother needed.

"I don't think so." He said. "At least, I hope not. Best case scenario, she's just freaking out because we're moving too fast. Worst case scenario, she never had any sort of attraction towards me whatsoever, and I just put my heart on the line for nothing."

"It's got to be the former." Sharpay said. "She has to have some sort of attraction. You can't dance like you two do without ANY attraction."

"I hope you're right." Ryan murmured.

"Well, it's your decision." Gabriella had been rambling for the last ten minutes about Sarah's talk with Ryan. "But I think you're going about this wrong. I would have just made it clear that I wanted to take it slow."

"I know, Gabs." Sarah said, pressing her cheek against the cool window. Part of her was regretting her decision already, if only because it brought out the talkative part of Gabriella.

"But I don't understand why he let you go." She murmured. "Most guys would fight it-"

"Not if they are in love." Troy said. His girlfriend raised an eyebrow. "Seriously. Guys don't do clingy. And especially guys like Ryan. He's probably thinking that if this is what Sarah wants, and he really does like her, then this is what he should let her do. Her happiness is more important than his own, so he will let her leave him. So long as she is happy."

Gabriella stared at him. Sarah frowned to herself. If Ryan was sacrificing his happiness for hers, as Troy had implied, than she would be fairly guilty. She wanted what was best for the both of them.

"Boys are weird." Gabriella finally said.

"Girls are weirder." Troy laughed.

"No, it's just you two." Sarah said.

Later that night, after a long shower, Sarah went out onto her mini-balcony. It was more of a fire escape, with its wrought iron fencing. Luckily, the floor was a smooth hardwood, and her bare feet welcomed the coolness. She sat down, peeking up at the night sky through the bars. Gabriella had told her about how Troy had snuck up to her own balcony after the whole plot with the web-cam, and part of Sarah was hoping Ryan would pull an equally daring move. She knew he wouldn't, though. There was such resignation in his eyes; she knew he had given up. He was out of the count, which had been the whole point. Right?

She sighed, tossing what remained in her water cup out onto the lawn. She threw the cup as well, a surge of frustration carrying it onto the basketball court. She heard the plastic bounce off the tar, and knew that Troy would be bewildered the next morning when he went out for his workout. Maybe he would begin to understand how she felt. She walked back into her room, catching sight of the brightest star in the sky.

"You could be my lucky star, because you shine on me wherever you are." She sang softly, before shaking her heard and walking back inside.

Ryan shook the wet hair from his eyes, and stepped through the window closest to his bed onto the roof of the kitchen below him. Carefully, he tiptoed towards the edge, before sitting down and pulling his knees to his chest. He looked to the night sky, and saw the stars, the moon, all glowing, all looking so lonely. He sighed again, but then opened his mouth and tentatively sang a few bars from the musical.

"Hands touch, eyes meet  
Sudden silence, sudden heat  
Hearts leap in a giddy whirl  
I could be that boy  
But she's not that girl"

Sharpay, who has wandered in to say good night, heard from his room. She sighed, and knowing he would rather be left alone, went back to her room.

Ryan found the brightest star, and thought about making a wish. Instead he stood up, shaking his head, and went back inside.

* * *

**See why I was crying?? **


	10. They Have Two Weeks

Sarah spent the next day thinking, and when she finally came to a conclusion, rushed into Troy's room to tell him.

"I figured it out." She said. Troy looked up from his computer, then glanced back to his English essay.

"What, pray tell, did you figure out?" He asked.

"I figured out why Ryan and I shouldn't be together." She said.

Troy rolled his eyes. "This is going to be good."

She ignored him, and barreled on. "It all boils down to expectations. It's kind of the same thing you and Gabriella went through. He's a drama geek. An amazingly talented, all together perfect drama geek, but still a drama geek. I, on the other hand, am kind of an athlete. It's a performance sport, but it's still a sport. And I'm related to you, which automatically makes me a jock, as I hang with them. So, the social norms would say that I should be shoving him into lockers, rather than going to a movie with him."

"Yeah, but I thought that East High wasn't like that anymore." Troy said. "I mean, no one minds me and Gabriella, or Taylor and Chad."

"That's because Tay and Gabs are brainiacs." Sarah explained as though Troy were toddler. "It's okay for brains and jocks to hang out now, but no one has really breeched the drama club yet. I mean, even think about you, Troy. You don't really hang out with the drama kids, do you?"

"I hang out with Ryan!" He said indignantly.

"Yes, but Ryan is one out of forty." Sarah pointed out. She peered over at his essay. "Which is what your score is going to be if you don't learn MLA."

"Never mind that, Shakespeare." Troy minimized the window, showing his Wildcats background. "So wait…this is a reason to break up with Ryan?"

"Well, I'm not sure if we would be breaking up." Sarah said, a thoughtful look creasing her face. "I mean, we never really discuss if we were dating in the official sense or not."

"You are." Troy said. "There is no way I'm letting you make out with a boy and not be dating him. You'll become a slut."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Troy." She said. "And even if we were dating, it wouldn't be enough of a reason for me to break up with him. Maybe for someone a bit more shallow, but I am not, among other things," she glared at Troy. "shallow."

"So why did you break up with him?" Troy asked, looking very confused.

Sarah sighed. "Because. I'm not emotionally stable."

"Sarah, you're more stable now than you ever have been." Troy shook his head. "And Ryan was doing you good. I mean, you would come home on cloud nine. You haven't fought with either of our parents since you started school, and you even went back to dancing. If you're not emotionally stable now, you never will be."

"I'm just not ready, Troy." She said. She felt the guilt slithering back into the pit of her stomach.

"But you do like him." Troy said. "Right?"

"Yes." She dropped his gaze, her eyes suddenly burning. "A lot. And I don't want to screw it up. So I'd rather wait."

"Okay." Troy said with a shrug. He returned to his essay, wondering what MLA was.

"Troy?" She said, not having moved from her spot.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Am I doing the right thing?" Her voice was small and unsure, and the last time he had heard it like that was before she started school.

"I don't know." He answered honestly. "Does it feel right?"

"Kinda." She said. "Sometimes. But then, other times, it's just weird. But it's not because of him. Well, it is, but it's just because he's a guy. Not because he's Ryan." She looked back up at him. "Does that make sense?"

"Perfect sense." Troy smiled at her. She returned it, though smaller and sadder. "Listen, Sarah. You have to do what's right for you. You'll hear everyone telling you what they think is right, but it doesn't matter. All that matters is what is right for you."

"Thanks Troy." She smiled and left, and Troy just shook his head. Girls were weird sometimes.

Just as he was wrapping up his essay (having looked up MLA on Google and learned that it was formatting), when his phone rang. "Talk." He said, not bothering to check the caller ID.

"Dude, we have to fix things with Sarah and Ryan." Chad's voice filled his ears in a conspiratorial whisper. "This just isn't right. I mean, Ryan? Yeah, he's acting…not like Ryan."

"Thanks Chad, that really clears things up." Troy said with a note of sarcasm strong enough to penetrate Chad's hair.

"Well, he's just acting weird. He doesn't want to play ball, he doesn't want to eat, hell, Sharpay even says he doesn't want to dance." There was a short pause. "Do you realize that this boy's entire world is dancing? It's just what he does."

"I do know him, Chad." Troy said. "But we can't get involved. This is something that they need to work out."

"Dude, come on." Troy could almost see Chad rolling his eyes. "Ryan is girl-illiterate. Freshmen have more experience than he does. And Sarah's just freaking out. She's not thinking straight because her last boyfriend was the reason boys have a bad name. They are not going to figure this out on their own."

"They have to." He said. "Look, Sarah's already rethinking the idea. Just give them time."

"They have two weeks." Chad said. "Seriously, this new Ryan is boring. And Sarah can't be that much fun."

"Not really." Troy said. "But she's helping my GPA."

"That's not important right now." Chad snapped "Our friends love lives are at stake here! Their entire futures!"

"It's rather unlikely that Ryan and Sarah would end up married or anything." Troy pointed out.

"Not true." Chad said. "87 of married couples met in high school."

"Where did you read that?" Troy asked.

"Myspace bulletin." Chad replied. Troy burst out laughing. "What? It's true! It even said so!"

"Chad, anyone can post anything on Myspace." Troy choked out.

"But it has numbers, so it's true." Chad dismissed. "Either way, they have two weeks before I stage another intervention."

"Yes, because the last one worked so well." Troy said, remembering the winter musical debacle vividly.

"Hey, that one only screwed up because we wanted to take it back." Chad argued. "This time it will work, because we won't want to take it back, we'll get it right the first time."

"Sure thing, Chad." Troy rolled his eyes.

"Two weeks." He said, before hanging up.

Troy sighed, setting his phone on his desk. He could smell dinner downstairs and knew that he should be getting ready. He and Gabriella were catching a movie that night. But part of him was still wondering about what Chad had said. Were they really in their own way? Was there no hope of them getting together on their own?

"Two weeks." He said to himself, nodding. With that resolution made, he got up, printing his paper and hurried to get ready.


	11. I'm Half as Real

**Chapter 11!!!! Things are picking up now, I promise. The moping is pretty much over with. And I've been pretty swamped with school work, so the chapters are coming later than before. There is a song in this chapter, and...Disney owns it? I think that's right. Anyway, it was kinda in _Pocahontas_, which is one of the best Disney movies ever, even if it's so inaccurate it makes me cry. **

* * *

* * *

Exactly two weeks later, Chad called Troy as he got out of the shower.

"Dude, where have you been?" He asked. "I've been calling for the last twenty minutes.

"I'm sorry that I take my personal hygiene a little more seriously than you do." Troy said. "Anyway, what is so important that it can't wait another forty minutes for me to get to school?"

"You, me, and Sharpay are meeting at lunch today to discuss the Ryan/Sarah situation." He said. "So make up some excuse as to why you wouldn't be at the usual table. I'm using Darbus as an excuse, so think of your own."

"Why can't I use Darbus too?" He asked.

"It's too conspicuous." Chad said. "Just meet us at Sharpay's locker at the lunch bell." He hung up, and Troy just rolled his eyes.

* * *

The lunch bell rang after an awkward morning in classes with Ryan and Sarah, and Troy found himself standing in front of Sharpay's pink locker, trying to look inconspicuous.

"No need to look so suspicious." Chad said, meeting him.

"You did make it seem like mission impossible." Troy pointed out.

"Dun dun dun da-da-da-dun." Chad sang, grinning.

"Can you please act professional?" Sharpay asked, approaching them.

"No." Both boys answered together.

The blond just rolled her eyes. "Come on." She said, leading them through the halls and to the balcony over the cafeteria, which was mercifully empty. Coming from above meant that few of classmates noticed, and certainly not the two people they were conspiring against. Sharpay spoke first, settling in between the two boys.

"He needs to win her back." Troy was surprised by the fire in her eyes. He had never seen her so passionate about something. "He's miserable, she's miserable, and it's affecting my cast." Troy raised an eyebrow at her. "And it's destroying Ryan." She added, and Chad nodded. "He's my brother. I can't just sit back and watch this happen to him. And surely you feel the same way about Sarah."

"Of course." Chad agreed. "They're just hurting themselves." He frowned. "But Ryan is already pretty set in just letting her go. He's not going to start any sort of campaign any time soon."

"So we need a plan." She said, flipping her hair over her shoulder and eyeing her brother.

"You already have one, don't you?" Troy asked.

"Kind of." She frowned in concentration. "The trick is to bring them together without being obvious about it. We've got to get inside their psyche and find out what is it that makes them think about the other, and bring that trigger up as much as possible."

Troy nodded, slightly unsure of what she meant by a trigger. He instead turned his gaze to follow hers, looking out on the crowded cafeteria. His gaze found Sarah instantly. She was sitting at the lunch table he had blown off, wearing a shallow smile that no one believed, bopping her head to the beat booming from the pink ear buds she was sharing with Taylor. Just beyond that table was Ryan with Kelsi and some drama kids. He watched as Ryan interacted with them, but the laughter never seemed to reach his eyes. They were good actors, but not good enough.

"So what's the plan?" Troy asked, his own passion now invested into the plot.

"Right now we observe." Sharpay said, her blue eyes still narrowed on her brother. "We wait and watch and find out what makes them really miss each other. Then, we attack." Her gaze darted to Sarah and her surrounding friends. "Talk to Taylor, Gabriella and Martha. They'll know tons. Kelsi too. She's really close to both of them." She glanced at the two boys before continuing. "They're perfect for each other. They just need some help remembering that." She sighed. "We'll meet back here on Friday to conference. That's when we'll come up with a real plan of action. I think it should be a lot of little moves leading to one big moment. That way, not only is it romantic, but it is a constant reminder to both of them how happy they are together." Sharpay suddenly broke into a devious smile.

"You're going to have them rehearse the kiss all week, aren't you?" Troy asked.

"Of course. And all their really romantic songs. They have plenty of them." Sharpay said. She snickered. "Talk about a reminder."

"Wait, they kiss?" Chad asked. The other two nodded. "I didn't know that."

"If you started showing up to rehearsal, you might have." Sharpay said, an icy note in her voice. She returned her gaze to her brother. "It's just going to take some time." She snapped out of her stupor and jumped up. "Okay, who's hungry?" Of course, there is only one answer to that question when addressed to any boy.

"Me." They both said, jumping up.

* * *

Sharpay put her plan into immediate action, starting at rehearsal that day. The show was blocked by now, even the dance numbers. Now that her actors knew what they were doing, she had Kelsi pull people for song rehearsals. She had been carefully avoiding Sarah and Ryan's many duets, but decided that she couldn't any longer.

"Troy, Gabs, I want you two to run the work scene on stage." She commanded in a stage voice. "Ryan, Sarah, go with Kelsi and work on "If I Never Knew You." It's a tough song, and you too need to be-"

"Perfect." They both muttered, more to summarize their own thoughts than to finish Sharpay's sentence.

"Well don't be so enthusiastic." Kelsi said, leading them to the backstage entrance of the music room.

"Sorry Kels." Sarah sighed, taking a sip from the pink Nalgene she carried everywhere. "I promise to at least act enthusiastic." She screwed the top back on. "Maybe."

Ryan didn't say anything. This was the most Sarah had said in his presence since that fateful dinner, and he was absorbing the sound of her voice. Though he would never admit it, he missed her desperately.

"Okay guys, you know the drill." Kelsi sat down on the piano bench, Ryan and Sarah taking their stations at either side of her. "It's pretty self-explanatory. Do you want to start it at half-time and then pick it up?" Both singers shook their heads. "All right, let's just dive in, then." She played the opening, Ryan voice starting low and hoarse from lack of use but warming up quickly.

Ryan: If I never knew you  
If I never felt this love  
I would have no inkling of  
How precious life can be

And if I never held you  
I would never have a clue  
How at last I'd find in you  
The missing part of me

In this world so full of fear  
Full of rage and lies  
I can see the truth so clear  
In your eyes  
So dry your eyes

Try as he might, Ryan could not stop thinking about Sarah. _I've never sang truer words. _He thought, praying his voice wouldn't crack. _Stop._He scolded himself. _This is what she wants. Be happy for her._

Ryan: And I'm so grateful to you  
I'd have lived my whole life through  
Lost forever  
If I never knew you

Sarah: If I never knew you  
I'd be safe but half as real  
Never knowing I could feel  
A love so strong and true

I'm so grateful to you  
I'd have lived my whole life through  
Lost forever  
If I never knew you

_This was the right choice. _She reminded herself, careful not to look at him. _This is how it should be. This is right. _She glanced up at him. _No it's not. How could it be? I'm in love with him. NO!! I did not just say that. No. I don't love him. _

Sarah: I thought our love would be so beautiful  
Somehow we made the whole world bright  
I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong  
All they'd leave us where these whispers in the night  
But still my heart is singing  
We were right

Sarah: If I never knew you

Ryan: There's no moment I regret  
Sarah: If I never knew this love

Ryan: Since the moment that we met  
Sarah: I would have no inkling of  
Ryan: If our time has gone too fast  
Sarah: How precious life can be  
Ryan: I've lived at last...

Ryan: And I'm so grateful to you  
I'd have lived my whole life through  
Empty as the sky

Sarah: Never knowing why

Both: Lost forever  
If I never knew you

"Wow." Kelsi said. "That was good. You guys really sounded like you meant it." _HINT HINT!!!! _She thought.

"Thanks Kels." Ryan said, refusing to look up.

"Yeah, thanks." Sarah echoed, also looking away.

Kelsi sighed, her hands hitting the keys in a discord of noise. This was going to be a long three months.

* * *

That Friday during lunch, Kelsi, Ryan and Sarah were locked up in the music room, still rehearsing. They didn't really need it, but it was a useful way to keep the pair out of the lunch room so that their friends could convene. 

"Okay, so it's obvious that this is going to be a challenge." Sharpay said, assuming the leadership position per usual. "But it's not possible. They are missing each other pretty badly, so we need to keep reminding them of how perfect they are."

"Sarah's doubting herself." Taylor chimed in. "She keeps asking if she did the right thing."

"Start telling her she didn't." Sharpay said. "Point out how miserable she is now." She paused, and turned to Troy. "She is miserable, right?"

"I don't think I've seen so many empty Ben and Jerry's pints in one place at one time." Troy said. "The grocery bill has gone up about thirty dollars from it."

"How does she still fit in her jeans?" Gabriella asked, amazed.

"When she's not stuffing her face, she's dancing." Troy shrugged. "Her laundry smells worse than mine right now."

"Okay, so she's miserable." Sharpay plowed through. "We need to use that. Ryan is also doubting it. He can't believe that this is happening, and he won't sing anymore, save for rehearsals. Not even in the car." A weird, hushed sort of groan of shock ran through the group. Ryan not singing was like Sharpay wearing all black. Or Zeke actually burning something. Or Chad chopping his hair off.

"So what's the plan?" Chad asked.

"I'm…not sure." Sharpay said. "The only thing I have come up with is-"

"A sleepover." Taylor said. Her eyes were wide and sparkling. "We have a sleepover. We play all those lame sleepover games, and all of us couples-" She looked at Chad, Troy, and Gabriella. "Prove just how much we love each other, and get them to think of how much they love each other."

"Okay." Sharpay nodded. "Not quite what I had in mind, but I guess it will work." Her eyes suddenly brightened as well. "We can have it at my house! That way we can do my idea too!!"

"What was your idea?" Troy asked a little hesitantly.

"Karaoke." She said with a shrug. "It's both of their strong points. And anyway, it's cute. Like in a movie." She caught Chad rolling his eyes. "It's better than your idea, Danforth."

"What idea?" He asked, unaware that he had come up with anything.

"Exactly." Sharpay said.

"So when is this happening?" Gabriella asked. Sharpay thought for a minute.

"Next Saturday." She said. "It gives them enough time to work up to it, you know?" The group nodded in agreement, and saved the date to tell the other three, all hoping that their plan would work.

* * *

**So my little duckies, you know what to do from here!! Short story: My teacher called us her 'duckies' the other day and I cracked up and turned to one of my friends and we did the little finger kiss thing that Ryan and his mom does. My teacher thought we were nuts. Anyway, please review!! You must have some idea of how much they help by now...don't you?**

**Lessthanthree,**

**Karina **


	12. The Devil in Disguise

Rehearsals and the plan continued to progress smoothly. Soon, Sarah and Ryan were even talking to each other. The Friday before the sleepover, though, was the biggest achievement yet.

Sharpay had given all of her chorus dancers and her leads (which included Troy, Gabriella, Ryan, and Sarah) clear instructions to meet her in the auditorium during free period. As the bell rang, they all gathered around the front of the stage, where Sharpay was talking in a low voice to her leads.

"So I know Ryan knows how to jive, and I know that Troy and Gabriella don't." She said. "But Sarah…"

"She was the US representative for the international youth jive competition freshman year." Troy blurted out.

"So much for looking modest." Sarah sighed.

"Oh, neat." Sharpay said. "So I want Ryan and Sarah to help me with this lot. There's a big group number, and I need it to look fabulous. Ryan, you know my standards. If this doesn't blow away the audience, I may never recover." Ryan rolled his eyes but said nothing. "Now, shockingly enough, the newcomers aren't bad. More specifically, Ryan managed to teach Chad and Taylor how to move. Jason is in the back, for a couple of reason, his height being one of them. And Zeke…" She smiled slightly, and Ryan smirked. No one else reacted, and Ryan took it that no one else knew. "Zeke is right next to Jason. I still haven't found girls tall enough for them. Troy, if you could see if any of the girls on the basketball team would mind, that would be great." Troy nodded, though figured asking the cheerleaders was a better bet. "Okay, let's get this going."

Sarah turned to get a better idea of who was there. She saw all of the people Sharpay mentioned, along with most of the regular drama club members. All in all, about twenty people filled the stage. No big deal. Sarah had taught people to dance before. And the Evans twins were more than capable of handling a large group.

"Alright, guys." Sharpay yelled, and everyone quieted down. "As you all know, there's a jive in the first act, and you have to be perfect. That's your only option. So we're going to run it at least once every free period from now until the show. Now, Sarah and Ryan already know the basics, and they'll help me show you guys what I mean when I say triple step or something."

"Wait, what's the difference between jive and…other dancing?" Chad asked.

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Well, jive is bouncy. And…" she seemed at a loss for words. It was hard to explain the differences between dances in words that non-dancers would understand. "You know what? Sarah and Ryan will show you a jive."

"We will?" Sarah asked, her eyebrow cocked.

"Yeah." Sharpay stuck a cd in the boom box. "Just make something up. Show them the basics. Make it work." She pressed play. A familiar tune started playing. Sarah turned to Sharpay.

"Elvis?" She asked. "Really Shar, isn't that just a bit too cliché?"

"Not for this group." She said, nodding to the beginners.

"Fine." She said, Sarah locked hands with Ryan, and they both shivered and took a deep breath. It was the first contact between the two of them in weeks. Not sure what exactly they were doing, they began to dance.

You look like an angel   
Walk like an angel  
Talk like an angel  
But I got wise   
You're the devil in disguise  
Oh yes you are  
The devil in disguise

You fooled me with your kisses  
You cheated and you schemed  
Heaven knows how you lied to me  
You're not the way you seemed

You look like an angel  
Walk like an angel   
Talk like an angel  
But I got wise

You're the devil in disguise  
Oh yes you are  
The devil in disguise

I thought that I was in heaven  
But I was sure surprised  
Heaven help me, I didn't see  
The devil in your eyes

You look like an angel  
Walk like an angel  
Talk like an angel

But I got wise  
You're the devil in disguise  
Oh yes you are  
The devil in disguise

You're the devil in disguise  
Oh yes you are  
The devil in disguise  
Oh yes you are  
The devil in disguise

Silence followed the dance. The surrounding group must have realized how much it took out of both dancers not only to perform the dance, but to do it together. Then Chad said "Are we really going to be able to do that?"

"Hopefully." Sharpay said. "Now, you all should have partners…Zeke, Jason, I know you don't yet, so just dance with each other for now. Now here's the basics…"

An hour later they group knew the basic steps and had begun putting them together into simple routines.

"You're doing great, guys." Sarah, Ryan, and Sharpay were milling around and correcting mistakes and yelling encouragement. "Taylor, don't be afraid to really go for it." Sarah said as she passed her and Chad. "It's not like you're skirt will fall down." She moved past Zeke and Jason and tried not to laugh. "Nice Troy…twist just a bit more though." She grabbed his hips and pushed them just a bit farther every time he twisted them. "There you go. Just like that."

"But that's hard." He whined.

"No one said it would be easy." She said. She looked over at Ryan, a habit she hadn't been able to break, and he smiled at her. She hesitated, then walked over to him. Ryan watched her, shocked for a moment. As she approached, he just shook his head holding out his hands. They fell into the routine easily, adding a few kicks that Sharpay was afraid to pull out on the rest of the cast. Sarah smiled, more to herself than to Ryan. She loved dancing with him. All the effort was gone. The motions came easily. It was just…fun. _No. _She said. _You're not having fun. You don't like him. Not at all. _She twirled, falling easily into his arms as the song ended.

"How come we don't look like that?" Chad griped as the bell rang.

"Because dancing takes a bit more coordination than shooting a basket." Sharpay said. That started a debate between the basketball team and everyone else, who had seen that the jocks were struggling.

"Okay, okay, it takes more to dance than to play basketball!" Jason finally yelled over the shouting. Silence fell as the late bell rang. Everyone looked around, unsure of what they were arguing over or what to do next.

"Maybe we should go get late slips?" Sarah said.

"Yeah, Ms. Darbus will write us up some." Sharpay nodded and sashayed out the doors as though the idea had been her own. Her cast just rolled their eyes and followed.

"So are you excited for the sleepover tonight?" Kelsi asked Sarah as she joined Taylor and Gabriella.

"It should be fun." She said with a shrug.

"Are you still worried about the Ryan thing?" She asked. Sarah nodded. "You should probably get over it soon." Kelsi said, hiding a grin. "I heard Sharpay talking about rehearsing the kiss." Sarah dropped her agenda. The spiral bound notebook, splashed with Wildcat Red, bounced off the tile floor in a clatter that pulled Sarah out of the astounded immobility that Kelsi's words had put her in.

"Oops." Sarah said, ducking down to retrieve her agenda. "Well, that shouldn't be a big deal." She said, now aware that Kelsi, Taylor, and Gabriella were giving her skeptical looks.

"If that was any indication, then you're lying." Taylor said.

Sarah's face almost matched her agenda as she tucked it into her bag. "I'll get over it." She said coolly. "I mean, I knew it was coming. I should have been better prepared."

"But why are you nervous?" Gabriella asked.

"Wouldn't you be?" Kelsi piped up.

"No." Gabriella said. "I mean, it's not like you haven't kissed him before. And it's not like it will mean anything. I mean, it's just a play."

"Yeah." Sarah shrugged. "It's just a play."

"Ry, chill." Sharpay rolled her eyes. "It's not like I'm making you two get married. You're rehearsing."

"But Sharpay." Ryan whispered. "This isn't just any old scene. This is THE scene."

"Which you two should get used to performing together, seeing as you soon will be in front of an audience." She said, brushing past him to put her books back in her locker.

"But Shar…" Ryan shook his head. "The last time we did this, it didn't exactly work as it should have."

"Ryan, it won't be you kissing Sarah." She said, raising an eyebrow. "It will be Mark kissing Rachel."

"Sharpay, you say that every time I have to get mushy with you." Ryan said, wrinkling his nose slightly.

"It works, doesn't it?" She asked.

"Actually, not really. I usually just imagine you are Jessica Alba." Ryan said. Sharpay gave him a revolted look before slamming her locker shut.

"Whatever. Do that with Sarah. I don't really care. But you are doing that scene today. You two need to get over whatever fear of each other you have. This is worse than the time you got stage fright."

"I never got stage fright!" Ryan protested, following his sister down the hall. A freshman looked at him funny, and Ryan snapped at him "I don't get stage fright." Squeaking, the boy ran away.

Sarah, Gabriella, Taylor, and Kelsi were lounging onstage chatting as the twins entered. Sarah appeared to be telling a story that the others found quite amusing, if the giggling was any indication. Subconsciously Ryan tilted his hat the side and wiped his suddenly moist palms on his pants. Sarah looked up just then, her eyes finding Ryan's instantly. She blushed a delicate pink, a soft smile gracing her lips before she dropped her gaze. She continued her tale, mimicking a teacher uncannily, making the girls giggle again. Ryan chuckled softly as well, heading backstage to find the cue book. Sarah watched him through her bangs, wondering why she suddenly felt warm.

"Okay kids, clear the stage." Sharpay yelled, her silver heels clicking against the hardwood. "Sarah, Ryan, scene six, now." Sarah felt her lunch begin to run a race inside her. Scene six was the kiss. Kelsi was right. _Calm down. _She said to herself. _It's just Ryan. Just him. I mean, he's just a boy. Just Ryan. Just beautiful, amazing, perfect Ryan. _ She shook her head to shake the thoughts. Sharpay was telling her to sit down center stage and sob. Sarah did as she was told, curling her legs underneath her. Her script was open in her hands folded on her lap, she fake-sobbed into it, trying to simultaneous bring up the feelings of love lost and push them away.

Ryan walked on stage the very picture of concern. Glancing around, he finally spotted the girl in front of him, and rushed forward, saying "Rachel, I didn't mean to hurt you. You know I wouldn't do that."

"No I don't." Sarah shook her head, surprised to be pushing real tears from her cheeks. "You haven't told me the truth once. How am I supposed to believe you now?"

"Because it's different now." Ryan knelt next to her, pulling her hands into his. "I'm different now. I'm not a stupid kid anymore. I know what you did was wrong. You should never have walked out like that. But I was wrong too. I shouldn't have let you go. I love you. I love you like the stars love the night. It's not love, it's a need. You are the night. You can go on without me, but I'm the stars…I don't shine without you." Tears still rolling down her cheeks, Sarah felt a gentle touch lift her chin up, and through her swimming vision, she found a familiar yet thrilling pair of cerulean eyes. "I love you, Rachel." Ryan said. "And I'm not letting you go again. If you leave this time, I'll follow. I'm going to fight for you. I won't ever stop fighting for you."

"You don't have to fight for me." Sarah said, her voice steady despite her tears. "I'm already yours." She wasn't aware of the gap between them closing. All she knew was one minute she was looking into a deep ocean of blue, and the next she was swimming in a sea of warmth and light. Numbly, she recognized the familiar feeling of his lips against hers and her arms around neck. He must have pulled her into a standing position, because suddenly she was on her feet. Her thoughts were swirling, and for once she wasn't fighting the real one down. She reveled in the warmth of his body against hers, was intoxicated by his scent. Ryan felt his world disappear as he kissed her, and something inside of him clicked. This was exactly how things should be. No avoidance, no awkward moments. Just the two of them, being completely honest with each other. The two of them. Together.

Out in the plush red seats, Chad flipped through his script.

"Wait." He said, turning scanning scene six carefully. "They still have half a page before they kiss."

"We know." Sharpay said, stunned.

"And that's not how Ryan's monologue goes." Chad said, now reading carefully.

"We know." Taylor blinked.

"And Sarah has more to her line." Chad added, his mouth gaping as he looked back to the stage.

"We know." Troy nodded.

"But that means they…" Chad looked around at his friends. "They figured it out on their own?"

"I doubt it." Sharpay said as the couple on stage broke apart. Ryan watched Sarah anxiously as she dropped her head into her hands. Sarah waited a bit, then raised her head, looking around for the other blond.

"Shar, I've got a ton of homework tonight." She said as nonchalantly as possible. "Do you mind if I cut out a little early? I won't be able to come over tonight if I don't finish it."

"Sure." Sharpay said, too stunned to do anything but agree. "We'll see you later, Sarah." Waving, the dark-haired girl left. The silence was palpable as the cast all just looked from each other to Ryan and back. Taking a deep breath, he spoke.

"So Shar, what scene are we doing next?" His sister seemed to snap out of her spell at his words.

"Let's do some scenes with Jake and Molly." She said. Troy and Gabriella nodded and hopped onstage. Rehearsal proceeded as usual. It wasn't until he was getting ready to leave did he realize that he had not offered Sarah a ride home.

Running into the senior lot, he glanced around a few times, but knew she wasn't there. Shaking his head, Troy got into his truck with Gabriella, hoping Sarah had made it home safe.


End file.
